The Multiverser of the League
by Anime PJ
Summary: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was always my favourite comic because it gave Britain its own superhero team. Now that I'm a Multiverser, I thought that I may as well join. After all, what else is an immortal Englishman to do with his time? [UNDERGOING REWRITES!]
1. The New League's Formation

**I've been getting into the comics of Alan Moore recently and came across the masterpiece that is _The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen_. I'd seen the film adaptation before and I wasn't a big fan of it, but upon reading the graphic novel on which it was based, I suddenly became ROYALLY PISSED OFF! Seriously, they took a mature, interesting story which focuses on the literary ancestors of modern superheroes as part of their own superhero team and turned it into a generic action movie with so many plot holes there was barely anything there at all.**

 **That's why I decided to send Dexter Verser into the world of the comic.**

 **As an Englishman, I was very pleased with the discovery that we have our own version of the Justice League of America, and even more pleased to discover it was so full of classic characters. And since the series as a whole now spans the better part of a century, I thought it would be the perfect comic to do a Multiverser story for.**

 **For those of you who are unaware, I'll give you this warning now: Multiversers are OP as hell and can easily come across as Gary Stus/Mary Sues. They're immortal, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. If this idea doesn't strike your fancy, leave the story now! You have been warned.**

 **The world of _The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen_ being what it is, I'm definitely going to be including characters and plots from other fictional sources as we go along, and for the first time ever, I don't need to have them brought into this world by an outside source. Don't get me wrong, that's still going to happen, too, but nowhere near as frequently as it does in the other Multiverser stories. I enjoy writing that out, but it's just not needed here.**

 **Welcome to _The Multiverser of the League_!**

 **Let's begin.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I IN NO WAY OWN _THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN_ OR ANY OF THE OTHER FRANCHISES I UTILISE IN THIS STORY! I ONLY OWN DEXTER VERSER, BLUE HEART, AND ANY OTHER OCs THAT SHOW UP THAT AREN'T OTHER MULTIVERSERS OR THEIR OCs! THEIR OCs BELONG TO THEM!**

* * *

 _ **Voice Cast (how I envision characters being voiced)**_

 _ **Dexter Verser = Susan Dalian (think her voice for Haku from**_ **Naruto** ** _but with a more English accent)_**

 _ **Mina Murray = Winona Ryder (pretty much just because she played Mina in the 1992**_ **Dracula** ** _film)_**

 _ **Campion Bond = Ralph Fiennes**_

 _ **Captain Nemo = Irrfan Khan**_

 _ **Allan Quatermain = Sean Connery**_

 _ **Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde = James Nesbitt**_

 _ **Blue Heart = Rebecca Riedy**_

 _ **Hawley Griffin/The Invisible Man = Claude Rains**_

* * *

 **BGMs**

 **London Town – Miracle of Sound**

 **Drink Up Me Hearties Yo Ho – Hans Zimmer**

 **The Master Suite – Murray Gold**

 **Introduction (Titles) – Danny Elfman (from the _Edward Scissorhands_ soundtrack)**

* * *

 **Arc One: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen**

* * *

 **Chapter One: The New League's Formation**

* * *

 _ **Third Person POV**_

* * *

 _ **Dover. May 1898**_

Campion Bond waited by the guard railing patiently. It was a lovely day, but he was not in the mindset to enjoy it – not when business as serious as this was to be talked about. Bond took out his cigarette case and took one out.

Bond was a very large man, and not in the "muscular" way, more in a "this man's job involves a lot of sitting down" way. His dark hair had once been a mullet, but the strong winds that had been blowing periodically throughout the day had blown it into some unrecognisable do. His beady black eyes looked constantly suspicious. He had a small moustache-beard combo which seemed rather elegant despite only extending to the first of his several chins. His eyelashes were strangely pronounced and his eyebrows were neatly groomed. He had a small mole on his left cheek. He wore a fancy suit and long-coat, presumably to emphasise the importance of his job.

Bond's coat blew in the wind as he struggled against said wind to insert his cigarette into the holder he used to smoke. He got it in and lit it up and was happier for it.

The sound of approaching high heels caught his attention, but he did not turn around.

"Mr Bond," said Mina Murray. She was cordial and business-like as usual. "Good day to you, sir."

Bond turned around to face her. "Oh, please, Miss Murray, do call me Campion … and perhaps in return, I might refer to you as 'Wilhelmina'? Simply remarkable, the view here, isn't it?"

Mina was a beautiful woman and only a fool would deny it. She had a severe, serious face that only added to the feeling of elegance that surrounded her. Her short brown hair was styled into curls. Her light blue dress matched her pretty eyes. The dress also had areas of dark blue and came with a hat that had a long blue feather sticking out of it. She wore a long red scarf tightly around her neck and it blew in the wind. The dress was impractical, as was common for the time period, and looked as though it would be incredibly difficult to move in in the event of a combat situation.

"Remarkable," Mina agreed. "And 'Miss Murray' will be quite sufficient."

"As you wish," said Bond dryly. He took a drag of his cigarette. "It must have rather hurt your former husband's feelings, mustn't it? Reverting to your maiden name like that? I dare say the poor chap's mortified."

"Thankfully, my former husband's feelings are no longer my concern. Nor are they yours. I take it the captain will be here soon?"

"One would imagine so, but then as the sole turn in our menagerie that you've so far recruited, you know more of him than I. He suffers from an inflammation of the brain, I'm told?"

"He has his eccentricities, but at least he is courteous. Do you consider me a part of your 'menagerie'?"

Bond gave a slimy smile. "Dear lady, what am I to say? Your history has placed you far beyond the social pale. Divorce is one thing, but that other business … ravished by a foreigner and all that. Quite against your will, of course, but then people do talk, don't they?"

"Yes. I'm afraid they do."

Mina felt more than a bit miffed at Bond's mention of her ordeal with the vampire known as Count Dracula. The whole incident had left permanent scars on both her memories and her neck, which she so painstakingly used her scarf to cover up. The fact that people, as Bond had quite correctly stated, spread rumours that she had a sexual relationship with the vile vampire disgusted her to no end. She had essentially lost all patience with other people these days.

"Still, chin up, eh?" said Bond. "As we see, England has a place for you, in the employ of my superior."

"Oh, yes," said Mina. "The gentleman who's known by his initial, like a seaside landlord: Mr M. We both know very well it's Mycroft Holmes we're speaking of. Why not simply admit it?"

"This'll certainly be hilarious in hindsight," said a new, gender-neutral voice.

"Nice of you to join us, Mr Verser," said Bond. "I was beginning to fear you wouldn't show up."

"If you know me by reputation, I doubt the thought so much as entered your mind."

"Indeed. It's good to have you here."

"I'm sorry, but who is this?" asked Mina. "Mr Bond, you never told me we were being joined by somebody."

"It would have been far too difficult to explain if you hadn't met him first, Miss Murray. Now that he's here, however, I can introduce you. This is Dexter Verser."

Dexter Verser was the most feminine man Mina had ever seen. His face was soft-looking, and his skin was smooth and pale. His hair was mid-length and black with bright blue streaks in it. He had bright blue eyes with irises that were a strange shape (what future generations would come to know as "power symbols"). His clothes were tight on him, showing off his slim, feminine but athletic body, with a thin waist and wide hips. He wore a wide-brimmed black Stetson on his head and had a piece of black cloth with white patterns on it hung loosely around his neck. On his upper body, he wore a black leather trench coat with a dark brown hooded shirt beneath and a dark red vest beneath that, the coat and shirt both being left open to reveal the vest beneath. On his incredibly pronounced legs was a pair of tight black trousers which emphasised his round, firm, thick ass and his manhood, which Mina didn't have to imagine at all due to the tightness of his clothes, and a pair of brown shoes.

"At your service," Dexter said, giving a little bow to Mina.

Mina curtseyed. "Mina Murray," she said. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Mr Verser here has been in our 'menageries' in the past," explained Bond.

"How many of them?" asked Mina.

"A large enough amount that any further explanations can wait until the two of you are done recruiting the others. Now, your task is to find this chap in Cairo, or whatever's left of him. Tell him how much his country needs him …"

"… For a menagerie. Of course. Don't worry, Mr Bond. I won't let you down."

"I shouldn't think you will. Mr Verser has never failed us yet, even if he's had … _strained_ relations with the British government in the past." Bond's demeanour turned sour.

Dexter shrugged. "I'm no mindless, following sheep, Mr Bond. If I see something I don't like happening, I'll do what I can to change it. My homeland, much as I love it, is not exempt from that."

"We live in troubled times, Mr Verser, where fretful dreams settle upon the Empire's brow. If England's to survive them, then it is vital that you work with us. The both of you, be about it vigorously and without delay, for the shadows of the century grow long …" There was a rather large amount of movement in the water a little way away from the pier. "… And your chariot approaches."

Mina eyed Dexter curiously. He was an odd man, she decided.

* * *

 **(Play "London Town" by Miracle of Sound)**

 **Opening Instrumentals**

We are treated to a view of London docks. There is no wind or rain, thus the sea still other than the usual waves.

… But there is one area that is being disturbed …

The _Nautilus_ emerges from beneath the waves, its mass causing quite a stir in the streets.

The camera pans down to the streets, where the workers are all gawking at the huge ship, their skin and clothes black with dirt.

 **Slaves in seas of soot we drown**

 **Come on down to London town**

The _Nautilus_ opens up and out steps Dexter Verser.

 **Susan Dalian**

 **The cogs they creak and pistons pound**

 **Come on down to London town**

Following Dexter out of the ship is Captain Nemo. He glares around at his surroundings bitterly, scowling.

 **Irrfan Khan**

 **Power cloaked in progress**

 **Smoke in Eden's eyes**

The camera cuts to London Bridge where, awaiting the two gentlemen, Mina Murray stands, making sure to keep as far away from passers-by as possible. Her red scarf is blown to the side in a sudden gust of wind.

 **Winona Ryder**

 **A million choking chimneys burn**

 **And blacken out the sky**

We are suddenly in Paris, in a small flat. Dr Henry Jekyll has his hands clutched against his face tightly, his face cringing. In the mirror he is facing, Mr Edward Hyde grins out at him maliciously.

 **James Nesbitt**

 **So grab your mates and join us**

 **Where the rats rejoice**

Standing over a dead police officer, Hawley Griffin wears the dead man's clothes and smokes a cigarette he no doubt took from the man's pocket. He is completely invisible but pays no attention to the horrified looks of the people he passes.

 **Claude Rains**

 **The brazen brass of the working class**

 **Are here to find their voice**

In an extravagant office, Professor James Moriarty, otherwise known as "M," sits in a chair behind a desk, looking down at blueprints for an airship. Standing dutifully beside his boss, Campion Bond awaits instruction.

 **With Andrew Scott as Moriarty**

 **and**

 **Ralph Fiennes as Campion Bond**

 **Revolution holds us bound**

 **Come on down to London town**

 **Break your back for class and crown**

 **Come on down to London town**

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen stands atop the _Nautilus_ , Hyde being superimposed over Jekyll, and all of them stare out at the camera. Blue Heart is shown superimposed of Dexter.

 **Steam train running on a reckless rail**

 **Speeding right into the rising gale**

 **Guest Starring: Rebecca Riedy**

The screen fades to black. A pair of golden eyes appear in the blackness and linger for a moment.

 **and**

 **Crispin Freeman**

The screen fades to black completely and fancy white text takes up the screen.

 **The Multiverser of the League**

 **Shovel harder 'cause we're on your tail**

 **London's bloody cry**

 **(End "London Town" by Miracle of Sound)**

* * *

 _ **Dexter Verser's POV**_

* * *

 _ **Cairo, June 1898**_

The opium den was far from the most glamorous place I had ever seen, but that was to be expected. There were men all over the place who were festering in their own bodily fluids. The place smelled worse than I had expected, but that's not saying much considering that I was expecting it to smell piss, shit, and all kinds of drugs, anyway.

Miss Murray had changed into something more appropriate for the atmosphere on the voyage over. She was now wearing a more simple dress and hat of dark greys and browns. Her scarf stayed, however.

" _Min aldhy yuqim huna_?" our guide asked in Arabic, meaning **Who's staying here?** Neither of us answered, so he tried again. " _Min 'ant taseaa huna_?" **Whom are you seeking here?**

" _Shukraan lak ealaa musaeadatik_ ," Miss Murray said to him in perfect Arabic. **Thank you for your help.**

" _Ymknna 'an najid tariqatana alkhasat min huna_ ," I added. **We can find our own way from here.**

The two of us walked into the opium den, abandoning our guide. The man we were looking for was not hard to find, him being the only white person other than us in the whole building.

Allan Quatermain looked about as out of it as I'd ever seen anybody. He looked far older than he was, even though he was already of an advanced age. His hair was dirty, white, and bushy, as was his beard. "Dirty" is a very appropriate word for his appearance overall, actually. What he wore essentially amounted to rags.

"Mr Quatermain?" said Miss Murray.

Quatermain managed to shift his bloodshot brown eyes open to look the two of us over lazily.

"My name is Wilhelmina Murray, and this is Mr Dexter Verser. Your country has need of you again, sir."

Quatermain slowly closed his eyes. "Go away," he said in a drawl.

"I'm sorry, Mr Quatermain, but I'm afraid we need you," I said calmly.

Miss Murray, on the other hand, seemed incredibly irritated and disappointed. "Sir, I had heard better of you," she said sharply. "Is there nothing left of what you were?"

Quatermain did not respond to either of us.

"I see," said Miss Murray. "Then may the good Lord help the Empire, sir, if there are no men finer than yourself to guard her?"

 **(Play "Drink Up Me Hearties Yo Ho" by Hans Zimmer)**

Miss Murray was rather suddenly grabbed from behind by the man who had previously been our guide. He was joined by a fat man – both of them had looks of the most perverse nature on their faces.

"Sir? What are you doing?" Miss Murray asked in a panic. " _Alnuzul_!" she shouted at them in Arabic. **Get off!**

I walked forward, grabbed the fat man who had accompanied our former guide by his throat, lifted him up, and threw him all the way to the opposite side of the room, where he crashed into the wall and knocked several bricks loose, which then proceeded to land on him when he hit the floor. The opium den went completely silent. I looked at Miss Murray and the man grabbing her – both of them looked shocked and slightly afraid.

"' _Iidha kunt la targhab fi almawti, 'awad 'an 'aqtarih 'uwnuhanidinagh liha_ ," I said. **If you don't wish to die, I would suggest unhanding her.**

The man gave no arguments. He released Miss Murray and ran out of there as fast as he could manage.

"What kind of man are you?" Miss Murray asked in shock. She brought a hand up to the scarf around her neck. Knowing her history with Dracula, I decided she probably saw my feat of strength and thought I might be a vampire.

"I'm complicated," I said … only to inwardly cringe when I realised that I had just directly quoted Dorian Gray from the abominable film version of the story I was currently taking part in. I looked down at Quatermain, who was looking up at me as if he didn't quite believe what he'd seen – considering his drug-addled state, I think he may have thought it a simple hallucination. "Now, Mr Quatermain, you have two options. One: you get off your ass – I'll help you stand if you're too weak – and come back to England with us willingly. Two: I pick your ass up and drag you. It's your decision, really, but you're coming with us either way. Wouldn't you rather do so with at least a bit of dignity?"

"I'll …" Quatermain swallowed, taking a few shaky breaths. "I'll walk."

"Good man."

Quatermain struggled to stand up. I tried to help him a few times, as did Miss Murray, but he shrugged us both off. The man still had his pride, drug addict or not.

"Th-The way out's through that curtain," Quatermain said, pointing a shaky finger at a nearby curtain. He picked up a dirty brown fedora and placed it on his head just before we got moving. As we got into the bustling streets of Cairo, Quatermain got more talkative and significantly angrier. "Well, that's torn everything! For God's sake, you two, I'm a sick man. Why are you doing this to me …?"

"Murray," Miss Murray introduced herself again. "Wilhelmina Murray."

"Dexter Verser," I said. I just assumed it was the drugs that made him forget our names so quickly.

"Please be quiet, sir," Miss Murray said to Quatermain. "We have to get you to the docks."

"Docks?" Quatermain asked incredulously. "I thought you said you have connections at the Embassy?"

"I confess I may have embroidered the truth a little in that regard. However, we have a friend waiting at the waterfront."

"You're mad! I'll never make it. Even if I do, where shall I get my opium?"

"If I have my way, Mr Quatermain, you'll be off those drugs for good," I said. "It's sad to see an adventurer such as yourself fall so far. Even if you don't want to get off the drugs, though, I think you'll find that you won't need them for the next few weeks at the very least."

"I don't care," said Quatermain. By this point, we had reached the end of the docks. "I just want to go to sleep."

"No!" said Miss Murray. "You're Allan Quatermain and your country needs you! **I** need you … most especially because I can't see our friend the captain anywhere!"

"Apparently Nemo loves dramatic disappearances," I said.

"I don't understand!" cried Miss Murray. "He gave us his word as a gentleman that he would meet us here. S-Sir, I fear that you are right and we are all doomed."

The Arabs charging us from where we had left the opium den seemed to support her statement.

"God's teeth," Quatermain breathed out in amazement. "Miss Murray …? Mr Verser …? Forgive me, but is it the opium … or can you see that, as well?"

Quatermain's attention had been drawn by something that was very out of place in the year 1898: a submarine.

But not just **any** submarine.

The _Nautilus_.

It's probably the most uniquely designed submarine I've ever seen. It was the shape and size of a massive whale, and the front looked like one, too, being grey and metallic, but with a blowhole on top that was spraying out a torrent of water as it emerged from the ocean. The back end was shaped like a squid's head, which played into the design very well – the ship looked like a giant squid swallowing up the back end of a whale and wrapping its tentacles around its front. The eyes of the squid acted as windows. Appropriate, I think, considering _Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea_ , Captain Nemo's first appearance in literature, featured a giant squid.

There was a hissing sound as steam gathered in an upright rectangle on the part of the _Nautilus_ directly in front of us. The sound of gears and cogs turning emanated from that same area. In a few moments, the rectangle surrounded by the steam slid downwards, revealing it to be a mechanical door. A metal platform slid out and stopped just above the dock. Out of this door stepped Captain Nemo himself, followed by a large harpoon gun.

He was a man of Indian descent with a tall blue turban and matching blue, fancy-looking clothes with golden squid tentacles decorating the sleeves and a swords scabbard at his side. He looked almost like Indian royalty as opposed to the pirate that he really was. His magnificent and dark beard was well-groomed and had a little grey in it.

 **(End "Drink Up Me Hearties Yo Ho" by Hans Zimmer)**

"Memesahib Murray, Dexter," Captain Nemo greeted us. "Good afternoon. Please come aboard. If I must have a woman on my ship, it is preferable that she is alive, I think."

"But Captain, the mob …" Miss Murray tried to speak.

"A Mohammedan rabble," Nemo brushed her off. "Please leave them to me." He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "I would have thought you could have dealt with this problem with ease, old friend."

"Well, you know me, Nemo," I said. "I don't like to make a mess. But you, I recall, don't have that problem."

"Indeed."

I walked into the _Nautilus_ with Miss Murray and Quatermain, leaving Nemo to his business.

"How do you know him, again?" Miss Murray asked me as we walked through the metallic insides of the ship.

"Well … do you remember how Mr Bond said that the British government and I haven't always been on the same page, so to speak?" Miss Murray nodded. "One of the big ones was the time I aided India in their attempts to free themselves from British oppression. We managed to get a peace treaty out of it, as you've probably heard, but one of the stipulations of the treaty that the British came up with was the exile of some of the more … violent rebels. Nemo was one of those."

I intentionally left out that Nemo was actually the Indian prince who started the rebellion, to begin with.

"That's not a surprise," said Miss Murray dryly. She eyed my face. "You seem rather young to have been part of the Indian rebellion."

"I look rather young to have been at a lot of the events I've been part of."

"… You really are complicated, aren't you?"

"That I am, Miss Murray, that I am."

We reached a room at the end of the hallway with a relatively comfortable-looking sofa. Miss Murray and I helped Quatermain onto it, where he laid down, shaking slightly.

"There," Nemo said as he caught up with us at a brisk pace. "And how is the great colonial explorer that your Empire sent you here to salvage?"

"Rather a mess, I'm afraid …" said Miss Murray. "And I think you'll find it's **our** Empire, Captain."

"No," spat Nemo in disgust. "The Indian mutineers may have surrendered, but I did not. If I work with the British, it is because I no longer feel even Indian. The sea, now, is my only nation."

"Then we are both made strangers in our homelands. Exiles, like our new acquaintance here."

"I'm not exactly from anywhere in this world, either," I said. "Believe me – I know what it's like to see things that are familiar but never feel truly at home. We're all outcasts one way or another."

"P-Please," Quatermain said weakly. "I feel so sick. Need my medicine …"

"You are aboard my ship, sir," said Nemo, "and my remedies are **bitter**."

"Who said that?" asked Quatermain. His eyes had practically rolled into the back of his head by this point. He would have been hard to look at for most people. "Everything is slipping in and out of focus … I see you only dimly, sir. If you are real and not some opium djinn sent to torment me, tell me who you are!"

"No one," said Nemo, and he left the room.

I spent the next few minutes wondering, due to the fact that _nemo_ is Italian for _no one_ , whether or not Nemo's words count as a pun.

* * *

The bridge of the _Nautilus_ was very basic, showing how Nemo had very little regard for decoration past what was necessary. There were a few paintings on the wall which aren't worth describing, just some landscape stuff. There was a small table in the middle of the room with a teapot and some mugs resting on it. Miss Murray was sitting at that table, sipping tea. I had a cup of tea in my hand as I leaned against a wall. The steering wheel of the _Nautilus_ was by far the most unique aspect of this room – it was a carving of the Hindu god Siva, god of destruction and of the dance.

Quatermain was locked in his own room just to the side of us. There was nothing in there he could hurt himself with, the only object in there being his bed. There weren't even any lights. We trusted that he wouldn't be able to harm himself by throwing himself against the metal walls because of his weakened state making him unable to build up sufficient strength to do so. He was stark naked, showing three long, jagged scars on his chest – I think he briefly mentioned having got them from an encounter with a lion.

We had him shut in there so he could ride out his opium withdrawal without harming anything or anyone on the ship.

Miss Murray hummed. "Mr Quatermain looks somewhat less frantic than he did yesterday, don't you think?" she asked.

"He could scarcely be worse," said Nemo. "He was raving about diamond mines again during the night. He called for someone called 'Umslopogaas.'"

"He's referring to King Solomon's Mines and his dead companion," I told them. "I've read up on Quatermain before. He's been on a lot of adventures in his time, so some of it was bound to leave a mark."

"To think I grew up reading of his exploits …" said Miss Murray. She glanced at Nemo, "… just as I read of **yours**. Quatermain, however, was always the Empire's favourite son. **You** were its **nightmare**."

"The winning side writes the history books, Miss Murray," said Nemo bitterly. "But what of **you**? What of **your** history? Why would your British secret service place a music teacher in the company of men as dangerous as Quatermain, myself, or especially Dexter? You are not qualified …"

"She's a lot more qualified than you think, Nemo," I said. Miss Murray looked at me with wide eyes. "Oh, yes, I've read about your little situation, Miss Murray. It was a terrible ordeal and you have my sympathies. Not many could have come out of that with as high a head as you did."

"I wasn't aware that my exploits have been written down," said Miss Murray defensively.

"You wrote some of it yourself. Diary entries and news articles relevant to the events have all been compiled into one book. They paint quite a picture, too."

"I see …" Miss Murray seemingly chose not to think about it. She looked at Nemo. "How soon shall we arrive in France?"

"We have another day and night before we dock in Paris," said Nemo. "Mr Quatermain, I trust, will have successfully subdued his demons by that time."

"One hopes so," said Miss Murray. "Because if what my contact Monsieur Dupin tells me in his letters is correct … well, it would seem that Paris has sufficient demons of its own."

* * *

 _ **Paris, late June 1898**_

Paris in the middle of the night was, in the words of Obi-Wan Kenobi, "a wretched hive of scum and villainy," as were most cities during the nights of the later 19th Century. Drug dealers, prostitutes, potential muggers, there was no kind of scumbag who wasn't out and about when it came to the nightlife. The lights on in all the buildings contrasted against the black-blue of the night sky and gave the city an eerie, orangey tint to it. _It'd make for a hell of a painting,_ I reflected.

"Mr Quatermain?" said Miss Murray as we stood at the arranged meeting point. "Are you unwell?"

Quatermain was dressed up in a long-coat and a casual suit yet was still shaking as though he was cold. "Of course not!" he fervently denied. "I'm … I'm just a little restless, that's all. You can hardly blame me! Pressganged into something I don't understand by my own country, and now this French dotard we're about to meet is late … Why couldn't your buccaneer friend be here instead of me?"

"From the state we found you in in Cairo, I'd have thought you'd be used to sitting around doing nothing by now," I said. "Have some patience, Quatermain, it'll do you bloody good."

" **Patience**!" Quatermain barked out. "You people have kept me imprisoned on that ship like an animal! I've all but run out of fucking **patience**!"

"All right, then, I'll rephrase: shut the fuck up and stop whining, or **I'll** shut you the fuck up."

Quatermain grumbled something under his breath but said no more.

"In answer to your question, Mr Quatermain," said Miss Murray, "the French authorities believe the captain dead since the 'Mysterious Island' affair fifteen years ago. It's better he remains aboard the ship …"

"It's better he remains **dead**!" said Quatermain. "Do you know who you're dealing with? That's Captain **Nemo**. Nemo the **madman**. Nemo the **science-pirate** …"

"Preferable, surely, to Quatermain the opium-sot?" said Miss Murray. "I have, you may believe me, met with many deplorable specimens of humanity, but **you** …"

"Madame, that's enough!" snapped Quatermain. "I pray God that all Englishwomen are not now of **your** manly ilk …"

"Quatermain, when we found you, you looked like a rat shit that's been dragged through a puddle of cat spunk," I said. "Now you just look like a walking rat shit in a fancy coat. Now, I'm sure Miss Murray and I will be able to ignore that quite frankly medieval attitude of yours so long as you shut the fuck up and stop whining just because a woman has bigger balls than you. All right?"

Quatermain's mouth hung open – he was gob-smacked.

Miss Murray was looking at me with some degree of what might have been approval. I'm not sure, exactly. It certainly looked positive, though.

"Ahh … _Les Anglaises_ ," said a new individual. **The English.** "Always the friends."

Detective Auguste Dupin was a man in his 80s with sharp blue eyes, high, thin, pointed cheekbones, and a well-groomed grey-white beard. Beneath his brown bowler hat, it was easy to tell that the top of his head was bald. He wore a dark brown overcoat and, beneath, a three-piece suit which had brown as its primary colour. As he walked near us, he tapped his cane against the ground with each step. Once he had reached us, he stood the cane up in front of him with both hands over it.

I won't lie, having the protagonist of Edgar Allen Poe's _Murders in the Rue Morgue_ , _The Mystery of Marie Roget_ , and _The Purloined Letter_ , and inspiration behind Sherlock Holmes himself, stood in front of me was quite the experience.

This is the day that I learned that, despite how outrageously old I am, it's still perfectly possible to have an inner fanboy.

Quatermain hummed curiously at Dupin's appearance. "I beg your pardon?" he said.

"So you should," said Dupin. "You are very loud and disagreeable, _monsieur_. I am Auguste Dupin."

"The chevalier Dupin?" asked Miss Murray. "It is an honour, sir. I am Miss Murray. We've corresponded."

" _Certainment_ ," said Dupin. "You are the catspaws of _Monsieur_ Bond, _non_? You call Dupin from his retirement when you need his help."

"We need the help of the best," I said. "And, to our understanding, you're the best France has to offer. I'm sorry if it's inconvenient, but I've heard a lot about you and it's all very impressive." This was me both trying to appeal to his ego and get my fanboying out in the open as calmly as possible.

"As I understood it, it was also that our interests coincided with your own," Miss Murray added.

Dupin hummed. "Well, that may be," he admitted. "An old case of mine, closed long ago, seems to have sprung open again. Your _Monsieur_ Bond expressed an interest." He took one hand off his cane and started walking. "Come. Follow me. I'll take you to the street itself."

"Street?" Miss Murray asked in confusion as we started walking with him. "What street would that be, sir? I had believed that I was here to find a missing Englishman, a doctor …"

"What you believe, _mademoiselle_ , is your affair. I only know what I have deduced."

"Do share," I said.

"That the murders have begun again," Dupin said gravely. "It started more than fifty years ago, here in the Quartier St. Roch. A woman and her daughter were destroyed with horrible ferocity." He stopped suddenly and stood next to the sign of the street we were about to enter – a street I had previously read about in a book starring Dupin himself: Rue Morgue. "This street here. Between the Rue Richelieu and the Rue St. Roch, in 1841. This is where it happened." He pointed at the sign with his cane as though to emphasise his point. "The older woman, _Madame_ L'Espanye, had been almost decapitated with a razor, then hurled from that window." He pointed over at a high window on a nearby building with his cane. "Her daughter, Camille L'Espanye, had first been throttled, then thrust feet-first up a chimney. A mystery, _non_?"

"I-It is indeed," said Miss Murray uncomfortably. "Did you reveal the man responsible?"

"It was no man, _mademoiselle_ ," said Dupin. "It was an ape, an orangutan escaped from the sailor that had owned it. Such was my deduction. And yet …"

"It's happened again," I said.

" _Oui_ , _monsieur_ ," Dupin confirmed. "Two months ago, a local prostitute named Anna Coupeau was discovered with her neck snapped. Other murders followed, each displaying the same praetor-human strength. All the victims were prostitutes."

"How like London's still-uncaptured Whitechapel Fiend from ten years ago," Miss Murray observed. "Perhaps the missing doctor we're seeking is …?"

"No," Dupin denied immediately. "Again, this is no man. An ape-like figure was reported fleeing the murder scenes."

"So much for no monkey business," I quipped. The strange looks aimed at me by all three of my travelling companions reminded me that the phrase "monkey business" probably didn't exist yet. "Never mind, just ignore me."

"… Your role in the earlier cases led you to this one?" Miss Murray asked Dupin.

"Partly," said Dupin. "Also, I … I knew Anna Coupeau. 'Nana,' they called her. She'd led a hard life. She did not deserve such treatment."

"No woman does," said Miss Murray.

"I don't know about that," I said. "I've met almost as many evil women in my time as I have evil men. While I don't really approve of murder, I can see why people might think they're, well … let's say 'execution bait' and leave it at that, eh?"

"Do you ever shut up?" Quatermain asked me.

"Not if I can help it."

"It seems there's nothing for it," said Miss Murray. "I must set myself as bait. _Monsieur_ Dupin? How might I pass myself off as a demimondaine?"

* * *

"There," said Miss Murray after she had changed. "How do I look?"

She had changed out of her fancy blue dress and into a hot pink thing with no straps or sleeves that only came up high enough to cover her nipples, leaving the rest of her cleavage exposed. It also came with a pair of black gloves with white frilly ends that came up to halfway up the top half of her arms. It also came with a very wide-brimmed grey hat.

I still don't understand why women's fashion in the 19th Century always included hats.

"If I didn't consider myself just a bit too classy to pay for sex, I'd certainly be tempted to approach you in the streets," I said in hopes that it would be taken as a compliment.

She seemed satisfied that she looked the part, though she didn't give any verbal response to my comment.

"That scarf, though," said Dupin. "It's too much. You should take it off."

"Absolutely not," Miss Murray said defensively. "Now, I shall loiter near the gas-fixture directly opposite. You gentlemen may observe from either end of the street, blocking our quarry's escape."

"But we don't even know who we're looking for!" Quatermain argued.

"An ape-like figure, didn't the chevalier say?" Miss Murray reminded him. "Even **you** should have no trouble spotting him."

"She is right," said Dupin. "Go take up your position on that corner, while I occupy my own. Watch carefully, now."

"I, on the other hand, have an entirely different vantage point in mind," I said, walking over to a nearby building.

"Where would that be?" asked Dupin.

"A bird's eye view."

With that, I utilised my wall-crawling abilities that came from taking on the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in another universe and scaled up the wall rapidly. I didn't have to look down to know that the other three were gawking up at me as I did this. Once I had reached the roof of the building, I turned around and sat down with my legs dangling over the edge. I then pulled a Thermos full of steaming hot tea out of my coat pocket (incorporating Time Lord technology into one's clothes is a very useful practice) and sat there sipping at it as I looked down upon Miss Murray's spot on the street below.

Quatermain and Dupin went to opposite ends of the street, Dupin looking the opposite way for anybody who might be approaching, and Quatermain watching Miss Murray.

Quatermain soon grew bored of watching Miss Murray and walked into a nearby pharmacy.

 _Drug-addled idiot,_ I thought, then felt a tad hypocritical. While I wasn't one to take hardcore drugs, I wasn't opposed to smoking a little bit of weed every now and again. That, and the rampant smoking addiction I had picked up when I took in Roland Deschain as a mental room-mate meant that I had my fair share of vices, even if they weren't quite as severe as Quatermain's own.

It wasn't long after Quatermain had gone into the pharmacy that I saw Miss Murray being approached by the man we had come to France looking for: Dr Henry Jekyll. He was wearing a suit that I really hoped wasn't expensive because his transformation into Edward Hyde was going to completely ruin it in a few minutes. Jekyll was a thin, severe-looking man with a vaguely square face that might have once been handsome but now was pale and sickly. He had a small crop of black hair on the top of his head that was swept to the right side.

I didn't pay any attention to the conversation Miss Murray had with Jekyll, knowing that I just had to follow them to wherever Jekyll was staying and then take on Hyde.

As the two of them started walking, I started moving across the rooftops of Paris, utilising parkour skills that had been perfected over too many years of practice to count. Occasionally, I saw Miss Murray glancing around, her eyes sometimes roaming up to the rooftops. Whenever our eyes met, I sent her a little nod to let her know that I was still with them and that I wouldn't let any harm come to her. She probably wasn't particularly scared, though, considering how thin and weak Jekyll looked.

The hotel Jekyll led Miss Murray too looked inexpensive but well-maintained. I waited until he had taken her inside, then jumped down from the building I was stood on, landing in a crouch with little more than a light _tap_ sound as I landed. I waited for a few moments, then entered the hotel.

The inside matched the outside in that it looked inexpensive and seedy, but the people running it at the very least put some effort into making it look presentable.

I had little time to admire the decor, however, as it wasn't long before I heard Miss Murray release a scream of shock and horror. The moment I heard it, I leapt into action, running up the stairs, taking them two at a time until I reached the floor Miss Murray had screamed from. I heard Quatermain and Dupin entering the building, but paid them little mind. Miss Murray was on the floor outside of one of the rooms. The left side of her face was bleeding a bit, like she had been struck, and a small portion of her dress had been ripped.

The exposed skin was putting some strain on the more lustful aspects of my being, I'll admit.

I looked into the room, which was open. It was pitch black in there, but I could see just fine. I heard Quatermain and Dupin coming up the stairs behind us.

"I say!" Quatermain exclaimed in shock. "What happened?"

I leaned down toward Miss Murray and rubbed the cut on her face lightly – she flinched a bit, but otherwise, it didn't seem much damage had been done.

"Are you all right?" I asked.

"Y-Yes," she said. "I thought I could handle him, and then …"

"It's fine." I stood up, walked forward, and glared into the room. "Mr Hyde! Get your ass out here!"

 **(Play "The Master Suite" by Murray Gold)**

I was in a slightly worse mood than I normally would have been. Hitting someone who was much weaker than you with no provocation was something you didn't want to do when I was around, not if you didn't want an ass-kicking.

A sudden _whack_ to my chest sent me skidding back slightly, but **only** slightly. I've taken far worse hits than that. I saw that the thing that had hit me was an oversized cane being held by the oversized hand of Mr Edward Hyde. Jekyll's formula had certainly taken him back a step or two on the evolutionary scale. Hyde looked like a massive red ape with glistening, sharpened teeth, and beady black dots for pupils while the entire rest of his eyes were a sickly yellow. The suit that had fit so well on Jekyll was now ripped open and ruined, exposing Hyde's muscular chest.

"What is it?" he asked. His voice sounded incredibly menacing and angry. "What d'you want with your old pal Eddie Hyde?"

"After what you did to Miss Murray, I really want to punch you out," I said. "Would you like to get started?"

Hyde released an inhuman roar, and then …

 _ **BLAM!**_

The gunshot came from Dupin's pepper-box revolver. The pepper-box revolver has never been a gun well-suited toward accuracy, mostly thanks to the fact that one trigger pull could unload anywhere from one to **all** of the loaded chambers, so it wasn't particularly surprising when it missed Hyde's head almost entirely. The key word here being "almost." It did, in fact, succeed in ripping apart Hyde's left ear, which the beast very nearly didn't acknowledge.

He was silent for a moment as the remains of his ear fell away.

" **YOU LITTLE SHIT!** " Hyde bellowed.

"You couldn't have just let me handle it, could you?" I asked Dupin as Hyde made to charge forward.

I charged forward and met Hyde in the middle, delivering a solid punch to his chest. He skidded backwards and into the flat he had initially emerged from. He looked at me with wide eyes, having clearly not expected this.

Then he wore a feral grin.

I think the prospect of having an actual fight excited him.

He tried to charge again, but I wanted to get this other with quickly. This time, when I charged, I instead shoulder-barged him, pushing him across the room and to a large window through which moonlight was pouring. I brought myself to a stop there and the sudden loss of momentum had Hyde reeling, struggling to keep himself on his feet. I then brought my leg up and delivered a hard kick to Hyde's chest, sending him flying backwards and out the window.

 **(End "The Master Suite" by Murray Gold)**

 _ **CRACK!**_

That was the sound of Hyde impacting and cracking the pavement beneath the building.

I looked out of the window and down at Hyde and saw that he was still moving. Knowing that he would be less than agreeable if he was still conscious, I jumped down after him, landing softly on his chest.

"Sorry, Dr Jekyll, you're gonna have a cracking headache when you wake up," I said.

Then I delivered a hard punch directly to Hyde's face. His head snapped backwards and impacted the pavement, cracking it even more. I had successfully knocked him out.

" _Mon Dieu_ ," gasped Dupin, who was looking down at Hyde and me from the window I had just jumped through. **My God**. "What a horror. Have you killed it?"

"Nope," I said. "The good doctor's gonna wake up in a few hours with a pounding headache, but that's about it. Do you lot want to get down here, or would you rather squat in his flat for a bit? I'm sure Quatermain would like some privacy when he drinks his laudanum."

"H-How did you—?"

"I have very good eyes, Quatermain."

"Laudanum?" Miss Murray said in disgust and disappointment. "We shall have words about this later, Mr Quatermain."

I stopped paying attention to their voices as they left the flat and started walking down the stairs. I kept my eyes on Hyde the entire time I waited for the others to arrive, not knowing whether my punch would keep him out for as long as I thought it would. I'm normally very confident in my abilities, but Hyde was a resilient bastard, so I didn't think I could risk being too confident.

"How much damage has this brute sustained?" Miss Murray asked me when they came out of the building.

"Not much," I said. "I punched him in the head really hard, so there may well be some damage to the skull, but not much else. We do need Dr Jekyll alive, right?"

"Dr Jekyll?" asked Quatermain in confusion. "But didn't you call him Mr Hyde before?"

"It's a very long story," I said. "The short version is that Dr Jekyll occasionally transforms into this thing. It used to only happen when he drank a formula he invented, but I'm not sure now … Did he drink anything before he changed?" I asked Miss Murray.

"I don't think so," she said. " _Monsieur_ Dupin, we need to get it to the waterfront."

"I know people here," said Dupin. "I'll find us a cart."

"No need for that," I said. I grabbed the back of Hyde's torn short and started walking, pulling Hyde's hulk-like body along the ground behind me with ease. It took a few moments to fully realise that I wasn't being followed by the others. I glanced back to see that they were all looking at me with varying expressions of disbelief and confusion. This amused me – an amusement I'm sure was dancing in my eyes even as my face remained passive. "You lot want to get a fucking move on, or should I tell Nemo we're leaving without you?"

"… What the hell **are** you?" Quatermain asked in wonder. He took a brief, concerned glance at the bottle in his hand.

"I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere~" I sang out. "Who ya gonna call~? Your best friend Dexter~" They all just stared awkwardly. I coughed into my hand. "Sorry, but I've always wanted an excuse to sing that. For now, let's just say that I'm a lot older and a lot stronger than I look. You'll probably find out more once we've got the whole team assembled. I prefer not to waste time, though."

" _Je suis trop vieux pour cette merde_ ," Dupin muttered under his breath. **I'm too old for this shit.**

" _Et encore nulle part près aussi vieux que moi_ ," I said to him. **And still nowhere near as old as me.** I glanced back and looked at Quatermain seriously. "Oh, and Quatermain: you ever endanger anyone's life to feed your drug habit again, I'll show you a **real** reason to need a medicinal painkiller. Understand?"

The man nodded weakly.

It was such a shame to see such a great adventurer brought to a low like this. I would have to fix that. The thing about using the _Nautilus_ to travel was that it took time, time that I could spend interacting with the League members. Maybe I could even help some of them.

Except for Griffin. **FUCK** Griffin.

Once we had reached the docks again, the _Nautilus_ was there waiting for us with Nemo stood atop it. I suppose Nemo decided that pulling a disappearing act to add to the dramatic tension had made things less than convenient for us in Egypt. As badass as the _Nautilus_ is, I couldn't help missing Iona. Not just because I'm married to her, but because she's **my** ship. There's a reason they say the captain always goes down with the ship and now I knew why – the attachment a man feels to his own ship is truly something to behold. The fact that Iona is sentient probably only added to the feeling.

"My God," Dupin said in wonder as he took his first (and probably only) look at the _Nautilus_ as it sat docked. "That is the _Nautilus_ , _non_? I never thought that I might live to see it."

"You recognised it quickly, sir," Miss Murray noted. "Your knowledge is indeed compendious."

"What I don't know, I can deduce," said Dupin. "That turbanned gentleman, for instance, that is Captain Nemo, yes? And 'Murray' is merely your maiden name, correct?"

"I … I am divorced, and have resumed my maiden name. There were certain events …"

"Last year, in England. Yes. I know. I read a lot. Goodbye, _mademoiselle_." He gently took her gloved right hand and kissed it. "You're very brave. I hope we meet again."

"If we find ourselves in Paris again, we'll be sure to look you up," I told him. I admit I was a little overeager to get back on the _Nautilus_ so that I could commence with my own personal brand of psychiatry. In all my years of life, few things have consistently brought me pleasure. Tea is one, sex is another, but the main one is being able to help people with their mental traumas. There's a reason they call me the Aspect of the Psyche. "For now, however, I'm afraid we must depart. Can I just say, though, for the record, Detective Dupin, that I'm a **huge** fan of your work. I've read about a few of your cases. It's astounding stuff, really. I'm sure Sherlock Holmes himself would be pleased to meet you."

"Oh … well, _merci_ , Mr Verser," said Dupin. He looked a bit taken aback by my sudden barrage of fanboyism.

Well, I was about to leave, so excuse me for wanting to get it all out of my system.

We all stepped aboard the _Nautilus_ , leaving Dupin to stare in wonder as the ship submerged beneath the waves.

* * *

I thought it would be best to start trying to get on good terms with Quatermain. Jekyll was still recovering from his most recent transformation and Nemo wasn't really in need of help, he was just bitter and angry, and quite rightfully so, too. Miss Murray would be the easiest, I think, as we were already on at the very least cordial terms, if not friendly ones. It seemed logical to me that I should start with the bigger problem.

When I found Quatermain, he was just sort of loitering around the ship. He was now dressed in a white jumper and a baggy pair of jeans. He still didn't look great, mind you, but at least he didn't look like he was dying anymore.

"Hello, Quatermain," I greeted him.

He looked at me with a hint of nervousness. "Er, hello, Mr Verser," he said.

"Dexter, please. Or Dex. Whichever you prefer, really. Mr Verser is reserved for people I either don't like or are really fucking stingy about formality."

Quatermain started looking confused. "I was under the impression you don't like me."

"I don't like your drug habits," I corrected. "I haven't really got an opinion on you yet. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to a bit of the old whacky backy every now and again, but certainly not while I'm on the job. It's more something I do when I'm alone and I need to relax, you know?"

"Whacky backy …?"

"Marijuana, cannabis, weed, shit that one smokes to get high."

"Oh."

"Certainly nothing as strong or harmful as opium." I sighed. "Look, Quatermain, we're going to be working together pretty soon. I want us to be friends, or at the very least not at each other's throats. Even more than that, I want to help you."

"Help me?" Quatermain started to look genuinely angry now. "What on Earth makes you think I need any help from you?"

"You weren't sitting around, shaking and underweight in a drug den because you've got your whole life figured out, mate. What happened to you, Quatermain? How did you go from the man who found King Solomon's Mines to a drug addict in Cairo?"

"Why do you want to know!?"

"I'm trying to help y—"

"Help me!? All right, then, sonny, let's get something straight: I don't give a damn how strong or old you are, my business is my business and none of yours! Stay the hell out of things you don't understand!"

He stalked off to somewhere else on the ship.

It wasn't an ideal conversation, but the first one rarely was. I've seen this more times than I can count. People will rarely admit they have any kind of problem, and anyone who suggests that they do is greeted by nothing but anger and dismissal. Cliché as it may be, it's true that the first step to solving one's problem is admitting one **has** a problem. Quatermain likely hadn't had anybody talk to him about his opium addiction at all, ever since he started taking the stuff, so it was left to me to get him to take a good, hard look at himself.

 **Then** I could start helping him properly.

* * *

I came across Miss Murray on the bridge. I was surprised to find that she was alone, thinking that Nemo probably would have been in there, too. The fact that Miss Murray was in there alone provided me with a unique opportunity, however.

She turned her head in my direction as I walked in. "Mr Verser," she greeted cordially.

"Miss Murray," I greeted in return. "Odd to see you on the bridge alone. Where's Nemo?"

"Dr Jekyll was rather upset to find that he's missing an ear. Captain Nemo is sewing up the wound for him … He certainly wasn't happy about it, though." She pierced me with an accusing look. "You seemed to know of his transformation – Hyde, didn't you call it? How did you know of it? All Mr Bond told me was that we were searching for a wayward doctor who might be hiding in France."

"The same way I know about all the people here: reading. You'd be surprised how many true events have been documented in books. I think the only reason you haven't read it, Miss Murray, is that you seem to have stuck to reading about the world-changing individuals such as Quatermain and Nemo. Dr Jekyll's story, however, is documented in a book entitled _The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde_. Christ, there's probably a book about **me** at this point that I'm just unaware of."

"I suppose that answers one question. Why did you not mention it?"

"Honestly? I was under the impression Mr Bond had told you. I mean, why wouldn't he? It seems like a really stupid thing to do, sending you in without giving you all the information."

Miss Murray sighed. "Well, isn't that **spectacular**? A pirate, a drug addict, and a changeling … Clearly, Mr Bond thinks very highly of me to put me in such company." The sarcasm in her tone was unmistakable.

"It's not all bad," I tried to comfort. "Nemo may have some … unsavoury practices, but he's a hell of a captain and a hell of a warrior. Drug-addled as Quatermain may be, there's a reason he's famous for his adventuring. And if that's not comforting, well …" I shrugged. "There's always me. I'm not **that** bad, am I?"

"… I suppose not," she said. "But you are a mystery. Yet you seem to know an awful lot about me and my … misadventure. Seems awful rude, doesn't it? Keeping secrets from a lady when you seem to know all of her own."

I chuckled a bit. "You're probably right," I said. "But … my philosophy has always been that the past doesn't matter. What matters is here and now, and this is me. I know about you, but I don't base my expectations based on what happened between you and the fucking vampire. And neither should you. The scarf is to hide the fang marks, right?" She instinctively brought her hand up to the red scarf around her throat. "I think – and forgive me if I'm being presumptuous or inappropriate – that it's like a mask for you, something you hide your past behind because you don't want people to define you by it. People see the scars and all they see is a woman who's been attacked, and possibly even dirtied, by a monster. But do you want to know what I see?"

"… Yes." Her voice came out weaker than I had ever heard it, showing a vulnerability I had not yet seen in her. The words I was speaking were hitting home.

"I see a woman who survived. You were targeted by a monster, it attacked you, and you **survived**. And I can guarantee that, if you were to remove that scarf, I would see those scars as nothing but proof of your strength. You are a strong person, Miss Murray. Only an idiot wouldn't see it. Now, you looked like you'd rather be alone, so I'll be taking my leave now."

I made to leave the bridge, and then …

"Mina," she said. "Please … call me Mina."

I turned back to her briefly. "All right, Mina," I said. "Please, call me Dexter."

Then I left.

* * *

When we docked back in England, the warm yet still somehow moist weather gave me a feeling of nostalgia. It's genuinely astounding how few reasons I've had to return to England in all the years since I died and was granted my powers. Docking in Dover again still left a bad taste in my mouth, however, as I knew that meant we would be recruiting the only member of the League I can honestly say I despise.

I had already decided on killing him when his contributions to the plot came to an end.

"Miss Murray, Mr Verser," said Campion Bond as we got off the _Nautilus_ , "welcome back to dear old Blighty. I see you succeeded in locating poor old Allan Quatermain and our alarming little doctor friend. My employer, Mr M, is more than pleased. You really have done awfully well."

"In six weeks, Mr Bond, I have been almost killed on two occasions," said Mina.

"A bit of an exaggeration," I muttered.

Mina passed a small, half-hearted glare at me. Then he looked back at Bond. "If this affords delight to your monogrammatic superior, Mr **Mycroft Holmes** , then I am, you may be sure, immensely comforted."

 _You only **wish** M was Mycroft, _I thought. The fact that I had to play along and pretend that I was being played by Moriarty like the rest of the team was annoyed the absolute fuck out of me. I was still thinking about what to do with him once we had retrieved the anti-gravity mineral that he wants us to get. Bond was easy – he was just a pawn, so a humiliation and a public outing of his traitorous deeds would be more than enough. But Moriarty … he was a different story.

"A waspish tongue, Miss Murray, is to my mind but one of the many unattractive features of the modern suffragette," said Bond.

"I can't wait to get to the twenty-first century …" I said to myself.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

Bond cleared his throat and looked to the man he was with. "Inspector Donovan? If you and your men will attend to their companions, Miss Murray, Mr Verser, and I have matters to discuss."

"Right you are, sir," said Donovan, offering a salute. He and the officers with him walked past us and toward Nemo, Quatermain, and Jekyll.

"Don't be concerned," Bond said to us. "Your friends will be in safe hands with Inspector Donovan. Splendid chap. Solved the Hetty Duncan murder single-handedly, don't you know? Oh, by the way, let's not have any more loose speculation as to Mr M's identity. It isn't your concern."

"Even when I'm risking my life for him?" asked Mina.

"These are dangerous times for everyone, Miss Murray. Since the great detective's death seven years ago, the Empire's enemies have seized their opportunity. Don't you read the papers? Robur, master of the air, has issued vague threats from his hidden stronghold. Prime Minister Plantaganet Palliser is responding in the house today. Then, of course, the astronomer Lavell has noticed bursts of incandescent gas from Mars … Oh, and you may read the Reverend Septimus Harding's attack upon the so-called miracles at Miss Coote's school in Edmonton."

"Having been confined within a submarine, I've read very little," said Mina. "What 'miracles' would these be?"

 _The 'miracle' of invisible rape,_ I thought in growing anger. _Griffin, you son of a bitch, you'll get yours eventually. Whether I let Hyde fuck you to death or I kill you myself, your invisible ass is going to be six feet under the second the plot doesn't require your presence anymore._

Luckily, I'm very good at concealing my emotions … mostly because I'm not very good at expressing them, but still, it was still a good thing in this context. Me appearing so angry so suddenly would raise a few questions.

"That of the immaculate conception," said Bond. "Of impregnation by the Holy Spirit … and on this occasion, it would seem the Holy Spirit has outdone Itself. These are three schoolgirls at Miss Coote's somewhat disreputable academy who, though virgins, find themselves in, shall we say, a somewhat delicate condition."

"How does this concern us?" asked Mina.

"He wants us to look into it," I said. "Don't you, Mr Bond?"

"Quite," said Bond. "I suspect that it concerns the next man that we need you to recruit for our parade of curiosities. I have his dossier for you here." He pulled a file out of his coat. "A former student at the University of London, supposedly deceased last year. His name was Hawley Griffin. He …" Bond looked at Mina, who was looking, disturbed, at a nearby building. "Miss Murray? Are you listening?"

The sign on the building she was looking at read:

 **PROSPECT**

 **OF**

 **WHITBY**

Whitby, I recall, is where most of the action takes place in _Dracula_. Mina probably had some very bad memories of the place.

Hoping I would not come across as too presumptuous or familiar in doing so, I placed a hand lightly on Mina's shoulder in an attempt at comfort. She whipped her head around and looked as though she was about to start trying to shake me off, but when she saw it was me (I think she may have thought the hand belonged to Bond), she calmed down. It was nice to know that I was already at least some source of comfort.

"Forgive me, sir," Mina said to Bond. "I was distracted for a moment by my memories. The name of that establishment across the street …"

"I've heard it's an outstanding inn," said Bond in confusion. "What is it that disturbs you about …? **Ah** , of course. Nasty associations, eh? No matter. Let's rejoin your crewmates. And be assured that whatever you and your comrades find in Edmonton could not compare with what was found in … in that other place. Not really. Come. Our way is back down here."

We started walking back the way we came.

"So, we're going after the Invisible Man, are we?" I asked Bond suddenly.

Bond sputtered over his words for a few moments. "Y-You've heard the tale?" he asked.

"Oh, yes. I've also heard that Griffin is a madman. I've encountered some odd people in my past ventures into these little groups, but M is the first to include an invisible lunatic in the team. Things must be dire."

"All will be explained," Bond said curtly.

"I'm sure it will."

I noticed that Mina was eyeing me with a raised eyebrow, so I mouthed "I'll explain on the ship." She seemed to accept that and we kept walking in silence.

* * *

Mina, Nemo, Quatermain, and I sat around the bridge of the _Nautilus_ to discuss our latest quarry.

"Well?" asked Nemo. "Do we have any idea what sort of horror this Bond chap is getting us to capture this time?"

"Dexter assured me he'd tell us when we got back to the ship," said Mina. She looked at me. "What did you call this man? The Invisible Man?"

"Indeed," I said. "Hawley Griffin was a brilliant but mad scientist once upon a time. He worked his ass off for years trying to come up with a formula to attain invisibility. Well, actually, he may have been trying to achieve something else, but invisibility is what he got. He caused quite a fuss down in Sussex about a year ago, went around terrorising the locals and that, before apparently being killed by a mob. But there's a problem."

"The body of the man they killed was an albino," said Mina, reading the file. "But Griffin is no albino. Correct?"

"Yes. It's assumed that the albino man was a test subject that Griffin used as a decoy while he made his escape. If what Bond suspects is true, then … well, these 'miracles' are a hell of a lot less divine than they've being made out to be."

"The three of us will go tomorrow and investigate," said Mina.

"What about Jekyll?" asked Nemo.

"Jekyll's being taken from us for some tests," said Mina. "It's hoped that sedatives might ease his strange condition …"

"… Or control it. Mr Bond is no philanthropist, I fear … I fear he collects monsters."

"How are we to investigate?" asked Quatermain.

"You and I are going to pose as husband and wife," said Mina. "While Captain Nemo poses as our manservant. We are to go to the school under the guise of inspecting the place to possibly send our daughter. Dexter here will make himself out to be our daughter … though I'm still not quite sure how. Do not get me wrong, Dexter, but despite your … unique appearance, I'm certain the girls will see through you after spending enough time in your presence."

"No need to worry about that," I said. "I think you'll find that this little trick of mine will make me very convincing."

As I transformed, the others widened their eyes and I'm genuinely surprised none of them thought they were going insane.

"There's something very wrong with you," Quatermain said once my transformation was complete.

* * *

 _ **Third Person POV**_

* * *

 _ **Edmonton, North London, 3 July 1898**_

Miss Rosa Coote's Correctional Academy for Wayward Gentlewomen certainly wasn't making any efforts to hide what it was, which is somewhat commendable, though it does call to mind the question of who in their right mind would send their daughter to a school like this. The white area around the door to the building was in the shape of a giant hand with five little windows that resemble fingernails, and the part of the roof which this connects to looks like, there is no other word for it, a gigantic peach-coloured ass. The rest of the building looked semi-normal, but the entrance told you exactly what was going to happen to any girl who went in: a good spanking.

This fact didn't bother Blue Heart at all. In fact, the only negativity she felt was regarding the fact that she wouldn't be able to stay and be a part of that particular practice.

Blue Heart, while normally appearing to be in her mid-twenties, had edited her appearance a bit for the occasion, and now she looked to be around seventeen or so. Her long, dark blue hair still held its divine waviness, and her eyes were still the same red – she would have to explain the power symbols in her eyes as some sort of condition. Her skin was creamy and smooth. The tight black Victorian dress she had to wear to fit in didn't have the usual desired effect of such dresses, which was to keep her womanly beauty covered up. Her large, G-cup breasts were pushing so hard against the material of the dress that she swore it was about to burst off, and her plump ass made the back of the dress stick out.

She was as beautiful and appealing as always.

It was just too bad that the dress was so damn **uncomfortable**.

"Mina, how the hell do you wear these things?" she asked as they rode toward the school in the horse-pulled carriage. "I feel like a giant silk-worm's cocooned me in preparation to eat me later."

"Don't exaggerate," said Mina. "I understand that you're not used to it, but it can't be **that** bad."

"I just wish I could wrap my head around this," said Quatermain. He looked at Blue Heart. "You are just … just … **impossible**."

"You'll likely get used to that," said Nemo. "While this is the first time Dexter has done something quite so … **transformative** , he's done enough impossible things since I've known him that I've grown used to such occurrences."

The carriage soon pulled to a stop and they got out.

They were promptly greeted by Miss Coote. Blue Heart became confused about just how Miss Coote remained standing with how disproportionate her body was. She wore a purple dress which hugged her body tightly. Her breasts were so massive it was ridiculous, and her waist was so thin that she probably should have snapped in half years ago. She was reminiscent of a less-attractive Jessica Rabbit, except not a cartoon. Her skin was white – not pale, **white**. Every single facial feature was narrow and sharp – her eyes, her nose, her chin, even her **smile** – and she had pitch black hair that she kept tied in a tight bun. She had a small mole just above her right cheek and she wore blood red lipstick. She also had a choker around her thin neck.

The second they were out of the carriage, Miss Coote grabbed Mina by the waist with one hand and under the chin with the other. "Ah!" she said. "You will be Mrs Murray … and what a firm, womanly figure you present! I am Rosa Belinda Coote."

"Charmed," Mina said a little weakly, clearly taken aback by the woman's manner. "This is my, uh, husband, Mr Murray, and our … our daughter Alisha … and this is our manservant."

"Oh, so this is the daughter you plan to lodge here." Miss Coote moved over to Blue Heart and got as uncomfortably close to her as she did to Mina. She grabbed her by the chin and tilted her face from side to side whilst also rubbing her other hand along the side of her body. "Hmm … A gorgeous face, a spectacularly womanly body, smooth skin … You have a very beautiful daughter, Mr and Mrs Murray. She would fit in very well here. So, you wish to inspect the place? Quite understandable, though I assure you I've maintained the same exacting standards as my predecessor, Miss Flaybum."

She started to lead them through the school.

"I … I'm sure you have …" said Mina. "Although there has, of course, been mention lately of the school …"

"Ah! You mean our three immaculate conceptions! Isn't it thrilling? It attracts so much attention here, we're obliged to decorate!"

Miss Coote gestured grandly at a new-looking statue of a lady centaur who didn't have a scrap of clothing on her. The white stone was carved with great care. The breasts on the statue were incredibly large. It was also holding a sword, so at least there seemed to be **some** effort into making it more than just stone porn.

Quatermain and Nemo, both of whom were keeping as far behind as possible, started talking in hushed tones.

" _This is insufferable_!" Nemo hissed. "To play the manservant, like some low-caste ***** _punkah-wallah_ …"

"You think I like playing that harpy's husband any better?" Quatermain asked him.

Neither of the men could see it, but Blue Heart heard that comment and frowned.

"We must suffer it as best we can and think of England," Quatermain finished.

Blue Heart smirked at the small innuendo in those words.

"It must disrupt your routine, having the decorators here?" said Mina.

"Oh, we don't let it!" said Miss Coote. "You see, here at Coote's we rather pride ourselves upon our discipline. Strictness and discipline, Miss Murray …" she stopped by the door to a classroom, "… that's the key to everything!"

Inside the classroom were a teacher and two students. One of the students was entirely naked on her bottom half and bent over a table. The teacher was repeatedly smacking her ass with a cane – her ass looked red-raw. The other student was holding the girl's arms to the table so that she couldn't just get up.

"Take that, Olive Chancellor, you willful girl!" said the teacher as she delivered another hard smack. "And that! We'll soon thrash your independent American ways out of you!"

" **Ahhh**!" the girl, Olive, cried out. "Mercy, Miss Carr! I am dying! Aah!"

Blue Heart's face went red. Cruel as the punishment may have been, she couldn't help but feel just a bit aroused by the sight.

"Um …" said Mina as they passed by the classroom. "Wasn't that teacher being awfully harsh?"

"Oh, that's Katy … our Miss Carr," said Miss Coote. "She's a great believer in 'the school of pain.' Frankly, sometimes we don't know **what** she's going to do **next**!"

 _Sounds like a bit of a psycho to me,_ thought Blue Heart.

"I see," said Mina. "And these supposed visitations from the Holy Spirit? Are they equally unpredictable?"

"Well, you'd have to ask one of our little mothers …" They walked around a corner and came across a blonde student who was quite visibly (ironically) pregnant. "… Like Miss Randall of Riverboro, Maine, over there." She led them over to the girl, who looked positively delighted with life. "Miss Randall, meet Mrs Murray. She's here to make sure this school is suitable for her daughter. Your experience has aroused her interest."

"It was the durnedest thing, ma'am," said Miss Randall. "The Holy Spirit just sorta entered into me. If it's a girl, I'm namin' it Becky, like me." She looked at Blue Heart. "If you're real lucky, the Holy Spirit might visit you, too."

Blue Heart shuddered at the thought of Griffin coming anywhere **near** her with such intentions.

They moved on.

"You see?" Miss Coote asked. "Perfectly serene about the whole affair … even if she was a little hysterical at the time. Come. Since you asked to stop over at the school, I'll show you the guest rooms." She glanced back at Blue Heart and smiled widely. "Except for you, my dear. You'll be bunking with the other girls for the night. If you're going to attend here, you might as well get to know them early on."

 _Oh, **joy**_ , Blue Heart thought to herself. But aloud she said: "I'd quite like that, madam."

"Excellent."

* * *

Blue Heart didn't particularly like being in the senior dormitory room. The school had really done a number on all these girls. They were just so … so placid. In any other school, there likely would have been hushed whispers and giggling; not that the idea of such disruptions to sleep had any particular attraction to it, it was simply that this uniform quiet was slightly unsettling.

She wasn't here to sleep, anyway. She had the Invisible Cunt to trap.

That in mind, Blue Heart switched her eyes to infrared vision so that she could see everyone's heat signatures. It looked very normal at first, but …

 _There he is,_ Blue Heart thought, narrowing her eyes on a heat signature from a distinctly masculine body. What was worse was the fact that he was quite clearly naked … and coming straight toward her. _Oh, just fucking **TRY** it!_

The second he was within touching distance, she grabbed his arm and flipped him over onto the floor.

"Ah!" came the startled yell of surprise from Hawley Griffin. "What in the hell!?"

"You'll be down there soon enough, I promise," Blue Heart said coldly. She raised her foot. "For now … **sleep**."

She brought her foot down on his head as hard as she could without killing him. He gave one brief yell of pain and fell unconscious.

Blue Heart noticed that she was being stared at by all the other girls. "Sorry, ladies, I was just taking out some rubbish," she said. She grabbed Griffin by one of his legs and started to drag him out of the room. "I'm not so sorry to say that I won't be joining you for the rest of the night, or ever again for that matter. I appreciate a good spanking as much as the next woman, but good God, girls, show some assertion. This place is run like a bloody brothel."

She left the room and walked down the hallway. Halfway down, she took a can of paint from where one of the decorators had left it and splashed it all over Griffin's unconscious form, rendering him visible to the naked eye. Then she carried on dragging him.

Blue Heart stopped by a door and knocked.

Mina opened it a few moments later.

"Evening, 'mother,'" Blue Heart said playfully. "I've found the man we came for."

Mina looked down at Griffin's paint-covered form and her eyes widened a fraction. "So it would seem," she said.

"I think that if we rush off now, we should be able to avoid talking to the headmistress again."

Mina now looked downright eager. "Right, well, we'd better get a move on, then."

* * *

 _ **Dexter Verser's POV**_

* * *

 _ **The British Museum, Bloomsbury, London, 5 July 1898**_

Having a secret area in a place as constantly tourist-filled as the British Museum has always struck me as being a rather stupid idea. But, I do have to admit, seeing some of the things on display in this area was pretty amazing, even by Multiverser standards. There was a display about the goddess Ayesha (one which Quatermain was paying a lot of attention to, which is understandable given that he encountered her in the book _She and Allan_ ), the skull of a Yahoo, a Brobdingnagian, and some stuffed Lilliputians (all of which are from _Gulliver's Travels_ ). There was more, but they were too numerous to describe.

"Well?" asked Bond. "How do you like your new headquarters here in the Secret Annexe, Miss Murray?"

"It seems comfortable enough," said Mina. "Mr Bond, when is Henry Jekyll to be returned to us? And what of the fiend Dexter caught in Edmonton?"

"Why, they're both here already. We have them safe in observation chambers, fitted with a two-way looking glass. You can see them if you wish …" He walked us over to a long window. "Here, for example, is your Edmonton discovery." Griffin was in the room we were looking into. He looked like just a floating dressing gown with lounge pants and slippers. There was a cup of tea in his lap and a cigarette in his invisible hand. "His name is Hawley Griffin, as Mr Verser has no doubt told you. He made himself invisible last year. He'd also secretly made a halfwit albino man invisible first, as a guinea pig. It was the albino man who was subsequently kicked to death by an enraged West Sussex mob, mistaken for Griffin."

We carried on walking.

"Griffin, meanwhile, fled to Edmonton and made himself very comfortable in Miss Coote's school. Inspector Donovan questioned him earlier. He thinks Griffin will cooperate with us in return for a pardon and a possible cure for his condition."

"What of Jekyll?" asked Nemo. "He did not seem an evil man …"

We stopped outside another window. Inside, Inspector Donovan was sitting on one side of an interrogation table, and on the other side sat Hyde, who was chained up with restraints connecting his neck and his hands.

"Oh, Dr Henry Jekyll is a highly moral individual, you may be sure," said Bond. "Mr Edward Hyde, on the other hand, is very different."

"Sir, I'm going to ask you again," Donovan said to Hyde. "If we were able to affect a cure for your condition …"

"A **cure**?" roared Hyde. "You'll **cure** me, will you, like a **wart** on Jekyll's **arse**? Why, you self-important little **turd**! Unfasten these confounded **straps**. I'll snap your neck in **two**!"

"That would hardly be wise of me, would it, sir?" said Donovan. "Now, with regard to a possible royal pardon …"

"Donovan's doing his best, but this fellow's a tough nut to crack," said Bond. "An extraordinary case altogether … Jekyll first devised a potion that would release his darker self … Edward Hyde … back in 1886. When Hyde's crimes necessitated Jekyll's disappearance, he faked a suicide and fled to Paris. In the decade since then, Jekyll's metabolism's altered. He no longer needs the potion to become Hyde. Any stress will do it."

I couldn't help but briefly reflect on the irony. Stan Lee has stated in the past that he got the idea for The Hulk from the story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, so the League's version of Hyde working for Jekyll almost exactly like The Hulk does for Bruce Banner has a certain irony to it.

"Then how can he be of use to us?" asked Nemo.

"Jekyll is a genius and Hyde has muscle," I said. "Fair enough, Hyde'll be a bit difficult, but I think as long as we give him a target, he'll be more of a battering ram than a time bomb."

"That does make some sense, I suppose," Nemo conceded. "But Mr Bond, you haven't told us why it was decided to bring such ill-suited individuals together in the first place. What is our purpose?"

"An excellent question, Captain," said Bond, "and one which I was just about to address. Please follow me through here …" He brought us through a door and into a long meeting room with portraits on the wall that I was quite familiar with. "… Where I would like to introduce you to Professor Selwyn Cavor. The professor is in charge of England's proposed lunar expedition. Professor, these are the operatives I spoke of …"

"Will they get my Cavorite back?" asked the slightly overweight old man. "If they don't, we'll have to delay the project!"

"Wait a moment," said Quatermain, wide-eyed. "Did you just say 'lunar expedition'?"

"Absolutely," said Bond. "All hush-hush, of course. It's planned for 1900, to mark the dawn of the twentieth century."

"We'll never make that launch date now!" exclaimed Professor Cavor. "My Cavorite … the anti-gravity material that I'd invented … has been stolen! I could make more, but not by the proposed end-of-the-century celebrations …"

"That's true," said Bond. "However, what troubles my employer Mr M is the fact that parties unknown now possess the Cavorite."

Quatermain gave a start. "Y-You mean that England's enemies might now be able to create … I don't know … flying machines of some sort?"

"That is precisely what I mean," said Bond. "The idea that some rival nation … say, for instance, Germany – might soon be capable of subjecting England to an aerial bombardment with explosives is unthinkable. Imagine, then, our great distress when a notorious German air-pirate named Captain Mors was first suggested as a suspect."

"How are you in this photograph!?" Mina asked suddenly, sounding especially startled. "Dexter … how can you **possibly** be in this photograph …?"

 **(Play "Introduction (Titles" by Danny Elfman (from the _Edward Scissorhands_ soundtrack))**

She was staring at one of the many photographs lining the walls.

A photograph that was taken in 1787, a hundred and eleven years ago.

The first man in the photo was Lemuel Gulliver of _Gulliver's Travels_. He was an incredibly old man in a waistcoat, shorts that came to just past his knees, a shirt beneath the waistcoat, and a wide-brimmed hat, while holding a cane. The colour was impossible to identify because of the lack of coloured photography … or, indeed, any high-quality photography.

The next in the image were the married couple Sir Percy and Lady Marguerite Blakeney – the Scarlet Pimpernel and his wife. They looked like a typical high-class couple in the photo.

Next was the ominous-looking Christopher Syn, otherwise known as Dr Syn or, when his split personality came into effect, Captain Clegg. He was masked from head to toe in black with two revolvers in either hand, his arms crossed over his chest.

Then there was Frances "Fanny" Hill. Her blonde hair was obvious even in the low-quality picture. Her dress did nothing to hide her quite frankly **massive** tits and she clearly had an unclothed leg quite intentionally showing through the slit in her dress.

Last was Natty Bumppo. He seemed to be dressed in typical hunters' garb and had an enormous rifle at his side.

And, between Syn and Fanny, there was me, looking exactly as I do now.

It's really no wonder that Mina had a fright when she looked at the photo.

 **(End "Introduction (Titles)" by Danny Elfman (from the _Edward Scissorhands_ soundtrack))**

"We've already established that this isn't my first time in one of these teams, didn't we?" I asked. "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen has always been called upon by the Crown when England is threatened. I've simply been there since the beginning."

"How is this possible?" asked Quatermain. He, too, was now looking, transfixed, at the photograph.

"I actually died when I was about eighteen," I said. I had decided that telling the truth – but not the **whole** truth – would be good enough until I grew comfortable enough to share my Multiverser nature. "Someone offered me a chance to come back, immortal and powerful, and I took him up on it. I've been trying to do good with my immortal life ever since."

"So … exactly how old are you?" Nemo asked.

"I'm not sure. I lost count years ago."

 _Plus, existing in multiple dimensions at once tends to fuck with your perception of time a bit,_ I added privately.

"Mr Verser has been a loyal member of the League since its inception," said Bond. "He is the first person on the contact list for any situation that may require assembling the League … or, at least, he would be if we knew how to get into contact with him. It's normally him who contacts us, like he has some sort of sixth sense about the whole thing. Anyway, I think it best that I let you know what you've all been gathered to do. The man who is now in possession of the Cavorite, and thus the key to gravity itself, is someone far, far worse than Captain Mors."

"Worse than Mors?" asked Nemo, genuinely taken aback. "Is that conceivable?"

"Oh, yes," Bond said gravely. "The man I speak of is a warlord from the Orient, but recently arrived in England. Little is known of him. It's rumoured he grew up during the Opium Wars, and thereafter abhors the British with a vengeance. We know that with brutal efficiency, he has established himself as the absolute crime king of London's east end. Known only as 'The Doctor,' he's regarded as Satan himself by such few as have survived encountering him. He has the Cavorite. Your group's job is to track him to his lair …"

"Well, then," I said. "The League is set."

* * *

 **First of all, I would like to apologise if any of the Arabic and French was inaccurate, but after finding out just what the Arabic writing in the comic even said, I decided to enter in the English into Google Translate and try to type out the characters actually speaking the language. I decided to stick to that idea with the French stuff. So, yeah, if it's wrong, I do apologise.**

 ***"Punkah-wallah" has no definite translation that I'm aware of. It's basically one of those servants who constantly has to fan their master.**

 **Nothing too spectacular in the first chapter other than showing off Dexter's general OPness and giving a detail or two about the fact that Dexter has been in this world for a LONG damn time. If you want more examples of what Dexter can do or just want to see more of the character, check out my other two Multiverser stories, _Hyperdimension Multiverser_ and _Vampire the Masquerade: Multiverser_ (shameless plugs for the win!).**

 **It's been good to write this. I shall see you all next time.**


	2. The Mysterious Fu Manchu

**Welcome to chapter two of _The Multiverser of the League_ , folks!**

 **Let's begin.**

 **DISCLAIMER: SEE CHAPTER ONE!**

* * *

 _ **Voice Cast (how I envision characters being voiced)**_

 _ **M./Professor James Moriarty = Andrew Scott**_

* * *

 **BGMs**

 **London Town - Miracle of Sound**

 **Charging the Keep - Audiomachine**

 **Rise of Storm - Soundmopi**

 **We Bring the Tide - Mitchell Broom**

* * *

 **Chapter Two: The Mysterious Fu Manchu**

* * *

 _ **Dexter Verser's POV**_

* * *

"Well, gentlemen, at least we now know why we're here," said Mina, taking a puff of a cigarette. "British intelligence, through Campion Bond and his mysterious superior Mr 'M.,' have assembled us to thwart a plot against the Empire."

"Yes, it's like we didn't just get done having this explained to us," I muttered.

We were all sat around a dinner table on the _Nautilus_. There were planks around the table that gave reference to the _Treasure Island_ incident. One said " _Hispaniola_ 1760," indicating the ship that was sailed on and the year that _Treasure Island_ took place. Another said "Skeleton Island," which is the true name of the island that was sailed to on that particular adventure. I should have known Nemo would be the type to appreciate those sorts of stories.

" _Aheheh_ ," Griffin giggled out. He was wearing a suit that his invisible nature gave the appearance of simply being worn by no one. "That's not why I'm here. I'm here to earn a pardon, and perhaps a cure. The only Empire I'm interested in is my own: The Empire of Invisible Man the First."

"Griffin, the day you have your own empire is the day I supernova this whole fucking universe," I said. I don't think people in the Victorian age even knew what "supernova" meant, but either way, I actually **was** perfectly capable of doing so if I wanted to thanks to a little something I picked up in the universe of _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ , but the threat was still idle – I'm not quite **that** heartless a bastard.

"Griffin, an enemy of Britain has stolen its one sample of Cavorite, the key to the mastery of the air," said Nemo, puffing on a large cigar. "You, too, could perish in an aerial bombardment, unseen and unmourned. We all could."

"W-Well, for my part, I'm prepared to help the cause as much as possible," said Jekyll, who was the only person at the table not smoking something. Even I had a cigarette in my hand (damn your addictions, Deschain!). "It's just that … Well, sometimes I'm not myself. I'm not sure I can always be relied on."

"Jekyll, we all have doubts," said Quatermain, pushing some tobacco into his pipe. He took a brief, narrow glance at me … then his eyes softened and he sighed, looking rather ashamed of himself. "I've been in a bit of a state myself lately, I admit that now. The thing is, Nemo's right. If some swine has the Cavorite, it affects every one of us."

"Well said, sir," said Mina. "For a moment there I almost fancied that I heard the Quatermain that I read of in my youth. Are we agreed, then, to proceed with the assignment as proposed?"

This is where I went through the plan again. "We split into two groups. One group goes to the owner of a teashop – a man named Quong Lee that Mr Bond referred us to – and asks him a thing or two about The Doctor; the other team goes to The Doctor's headquarters in Limehouse to see if they can get a look and find anything out."

Mina nodded. "No objections?" No one spoke. "Very well. We are resolved to track this 'Devil Doctor' to his den in Limehouse and retrieve the Cavorite. The motion is thus carried."

"Um, w-what about the groups?" asked Jekyll. "Who'll go with who?"

"Captain Nemo is going to be staying on the ship," said Mina, "to make sure we can make a quick getaway if it comes to it, though hopefully, it will not. Mr Griffin, Dexter, and I shall be going to the teashop, while Mr Quatermain and Dr Jekyll—"

"Actually," I said. "Er, I apologise for the interruption, Mina. Anyway, I can contribute to both groups, as it happens."

"… I want to say you're joking," said Quatermain. "I so badly want you to be joking … There's no possible way …"

A copy of myself appeared behind my chair, standing up. He raised a hand and waved at everyone. The whole lot of them were looking at him/me in shock, wide-eyed. Quatermain just sighed and rubbed his head like he was getting a migraine.

And that's when Griffin burst out laughing.

" _Aheheh_. How rare it is to meet a higher being such as myself! Ah, Mr Verser, you are **very** interesting."

I felt a shiver run down my spine at being compared to or praised by Griffin in any way whatsoever. It made me feel genuinely ill. "There is one bit of information I can give you about The Doctor," I said. "It's about the only thing I know about him, granted, but I don't know, one of you might find it useful. His real name is Fu Manchu. Before the incident at Reichenbach Fall, he was the only living rival to crime lord Professor James Moriarty."

Was name-dropping Moriarty a good idea? I didn't know. I couldn't reveal M.'s true identity myself because the plot demanded we do this job before the truth is revealed, but I suppose I hoped one of the others would put two and two together in order to save time (plus that poor constable's life).

And so we got to work.

* * *

 **(Play "London Town" by Miracle of Sound)**

 **Opening Instrumentals**

We are treated to a view of London docks. There is no wind or rain, thus the sea is still other than the usual waves.

… But there is one area that is being disturbed …

The _Nautilus_ emerges from beneath the waves, its mass causing quite a stir in the streets.

The camera pans down to the streets, where the workers are all gawking at the huge ship, their skin and clothes black with dirt.

 **Slaves in seas of soot we drown**

 **Come on down to London town**

The _Nautilus_ opens up and out steps Dexter Verser.

 **Susan Dalian**

 **The cogs they creak and pistons pound**

 **Come on down to London town**

Following Dexter out of the ship is Captain Nemo. He glares around at his surroundings bitterly, scowling.

 **Irrfan Khan**

 **Power cloaked in progress**

 **Smoke in Eden's eyes**

The camera cuts to London Bridge where awaiting the two gentlemen, Mina Murray stands, making sure to keep as far away from passers-by as possible. Her red scarf is blown to the side in a sudden gust of wind.

 **Winona Ryder**

 **A million choking chimneys burn**

 **And blacken out the sky**

We are suddenly in Paris, in a small flat. Dr Henry Jekyll has his hands clutched against his face tightly, his face cringing. In the mirror he is facing, Mr Edward Hyde grins out at him maliciously.

 **James Nesbitt**

 **So grab your mates and join us**

 **Where the rats rejoice**

Standing over a dead police officer, Hawley Griffin wears the dead man's clothes and smokes a cigarette he no doubt took from the man's pocket. He is completely invisible but pays no attention to the horrified looks of the people he passes.

 **Claude Rains**

 **The brazen brass of the working class**

 **Are here to find their voice**

In an extravagant office, Professor James Moriarty, otherwise known as "M.," sits in a chair behind a desk, looking down at blueprints for an airship. Standing dutifully beside his boss, Campion Bond awaits instruction.

 **With Andrew Scott as Moriarty**

 **and**

 **Ralph Fiennes as Campion Bond**

 **Revolution holds us bound**

 **Come on down to London town**

 **Break your back for class and crown**

 **Come on down to London town**

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen stands atop the _Nautilus_ , Hyde being superimposed over Jekyll, and all of them stare out at the camera. Blue Heart is superimposed over Dexter.

 **Guest Starring: Rebecca Riedy**

 **Steam train running on a reckless rail**

 **Speeding right into the rising gale**

The screen fades to black. A pair of golden eyes appear in the blackness and linger for a moment.

 **and**

 **Crispin Freeman**

The screen fades to black completely and fancy white text takes up the screen.

 **The Multiverser of the League**

 **Shovel harder 'cause we're on your tail**

 **London's bloody cry**

 **(End "London Town" by Miracle of Sound)**

* * *

 _ **Third Person POV**_

* * *

Griffin sat in front of the mirror in his room on the _Nautilus_ , irritated. This Dexter Verser fellow was proving to be a very large danger to him. If not because of the powers he seemed to hold, then simply because his dislike for Griffin was clear and unhidden. Griffin didn't care that people didn't like him – he was far above all these insignificant little rats and they ought to know it – but provoking the anger as someone such as Verser was something that gave even Griffin pause.

Griffin took the tin of white greasepaint and started applying it to his face.

But what to do? The man had already shown an extraordinary strength, the ability to change gender (into a form that Griffin had found so appealing that he'd fallen right into the bloody trap), and the apparent ability to multiply himself, though whether or not he could create more than one copy of himself remained to be seen. Still, it was a problem.

Having covered his face in the white paint, Griffin rubbed some on his neck and the underside of his chin.

 _I must tread carefully,_ he thought. _The bastard's likely keeping an eye on me as much as he can … I must find a way of getting rid of him, or I fear he may kill me once this business is concluded, and that simply won't do._

Griffin put on a pair of round sunglasses to cover his invisible eyes and a wig of curly brown hair to cover the spots he'd missed at the top and back of his head.

" _Aheheh._ There."

He put on a hat and long-coat and started to leave the room.

 _I must find a way of killing this Verser fellow if I'm to survive, I think._

Not that he had a problem with that. The thought of it even brought a grin to his pasted-white face.

* * *

Now the League (minus Nemo) was outside the _Nautilus_ and preparing to go about their mission.

"Good Lord, Griffin, you look appalling," Quatermain said in shock when he got a good look at Griffin's newly visible face. "Is that greasepaint?"

"Congratulations, Griffin," said Dexter. "You could pass for an **actual** albino now."

Blue Heart snorted (the other Dexter had turned into her in order to avoid confusion). "Maybe if he didn't look like the colour was about to drip off his face," she said.

"We'll have to hope the Limehouse shadows hide what make-up can't," said Mina. "Come with me, Dexter, Mr Griffin. We'll leave these three to pursue their own affairs."

Dexter, Mina, and Griffin walked off together.

"Hmmmph," said Quatermain. "Well, there they go. I must say, I'm not taken with that Griffin fellow. I don't trust her with him."

"Why do you think Dexter split himself in two?" asked Blue Heart. She scowled. "Neither of us trusts Griffin as far as we could spit." _Plus, I don't trust him alone with Mina, and neither does Dexter,_ she added silently. It was strange – despite knowing full well that nothing of note happened on this particular venture, Dexter hadn't wanted to leave Mina and Griffin alone together for any length of time at all. Blue Heart could see why and even shared the sentiment, but considering what they knew of the future, it really made no sense to be so paranoid right now.

A smile tugged at Blue Heart's lips. _I think Dexter's already rather taken with you, Mina,_ she thought cheekily.

"I hadn't thought about Griffin," said Jekyll. "To be honest, I've more pressing worries of my own … The truth is, I don't trust me with myself."

"You don't need to worry about Hyde," said Blue Heart, giving him an encouraging smile. "So long as either Dexter or I am around, you don't need to worry about him doing anything – we'd take care of it."

"You speak as though you and Mr Verser are different people," said Quatermain, curiously. "Yet aren't you just him but changed to a woman? Are you not the same person?"

"Well … yes and no," said Blue Heart. "It's a weird situation, you've got that right, but while we **do** share a body, we **don't** share a personality or a mind. If I wanted to, I could block him off from accessing my thoughts entirely, and he could do the same to me, but we don't. I'm sort of a power boost, in a way. I know it's difficult for you to believe, with your 19th Century attitude of 'women should be subservient' and all that bullshit, but I'm actually more powerful than he is. Like I said, I'm kind of like a boost that just happens to change his personality and gender." She shrugged. "Haven't you noticed that I'm more expressive than he is?"

"Well, now that you mention it …" said Quatermain.

"Mr Verser does seem a rather stoic fellow, doesn't he?" said Jekyll.

"He just has trouble expressing himself," said Blue Heart. "It's a problem that I don't have. So, yeah, we're technically different people. So it's okay to fantasize about me, boys." She turned and winked at them, then started to walk off.

"… These women are going to drive me insane," Quatermain mumbled to hide how flustered he was.

Jekyll was still a nervous, sweating mess and said nothing.

They passed by a man with a paper that read **ERUPTIONS ON MARS MAY BE VOLCANOES**. This didn't mean much to Quatermain and Jekyll, but Blue Heart knew what was happening.

 _It's got to be the Martians fighting against the Molluscs,_ she thought grimly. _Those pricks will be invading Earth soon enough … Hopefully not as soon as this Cavorite situation is over and done with, though. God knows Dexter likes a bit of peace and quiet between adventures …_

* * *

 _ **Dexter Verser's POV**_

* * *

I picked up on Blue Heart's thought process in terms of the Molluscs and found myself amused that she thought a lack of rest between missions would annoy me. That being said, I was very much determined to fight of the Mollusc invasion with as few casualties as I could manage when it happened.

"God, what a squalid thing humanity can be!" Griffin said as we moved through Limehouse. There were people, pretty much all of them peasants, milling about all over the place. "Would that they all might vanish and be made invisible instead of I."

{Oh sweet merciful Jesus, now I'm having flashbacks to Miracle Day} said my mental roommate, Captain Jack Harkness.

I shuddered at the memory. I exist as Captain Jack Harkness in the universe of _Doctor Who_ , and as such, when Miracle Day rolled around, I had to allow myself to be vulnerable to harm while everyone else on Earth became immortal. It was a nightmare of a time, let me tell you. _Actually … come to think of it, The Doctor – the Time Lord Doctor, not Fu Manchu – exists in this universe … Oh, bollocks, is all that shit going to happen again?_ The thought of putting up with Miracle Day again gave me a headache. _Maybe Prime can do something about it. Put a stop to it, or something._

That was a nice thought.

"You clearly have a low opinion of humanity, sir," Mina said to Griffin. "No doubt that is why you were so eager to become something entirely other."

" _Aheheh_ ," Griffin laughed in that little verbal tick of his. "Not entirely other. I still have human wants. It's simply that my own desires are more … transparent than the needs of other men."

"Griffin," I said, "you have the worst kind of God complex: the kind you can't back up. Now, I'd normally recommend a good psychiatrist, but I honestly think the whole Multiverse would benefit if you were put down as soon as possible."

Although I couldn't see his eyes past his sunglasses, I knew Griffin was passing me a poisonous glare. "You were married once, I hear, Miss Murray," he said. "You'll understand what I mean, I'm sure."

"Invisibitch, shut it!" I snapped at him. "Everyone here has a past, there's no need to keep bringing them up when it's just to mock people."

" _Aheheh_. Come off your high horse, Verser. I've noticed that you're the only one of us who's on a first-name basis with our lovely leader. What are you trying to do, pick up where her husband left off? How scandalous of you. You're no better than me, in the end – just as prone to your lower urges."

"Stop it, both of you," Mina ordered firmly. "I'll not have you bickering like overgrown children when we have a job to do. As you can see, we've arrived at the teashop. As for my marriage and your lower urges, Mr Griffin, I don't really feel that these are suitable subjects for conversation. I'm sure you'll agree. And Dexter, while I very much appreciate your defence, need I remind you that we are supposed to be working together as a unit? Constantly ripping each other's heads off is going to get us nowhere fast. Now, gentlemen, shall we go inside?"

Griffin and I were both stunned into silence as Mina walked into the shop ahead of us.

"… She is one hell of a woman," I said.

"Indeed," said Griffin.

Choosing to ignore the fact that Griffin had just agreed with me on something, I walked inside, and Griffin followed me. The shop was pretty damn dark, as was most of Limehouse (which I was strongly starting to suspect was some sort of Chinatown during the 19th Century – I couldn't say for sure, because while I lived in England even when I was a human, I've never had many reasons to go to London). It was faintly lighted by a paper Chinese lantern in the corner.

The shopkeeper was the man we had come to speak to, Quong Lee. He was an older Chinese fellow with a little dark hat and a long white beard.

"Mr Quong?" Mina asked.

"I am Quong Lee, purveyor of fine teas," said Quong Lee. "Well, now, what have we here? A pretty lady, and …" he eyed me and Griffin, but his disturbed gaze lingered on Griffin, "… a pair of gentlemen. You have not come for tea, I think."

"You are indeed correct, sir," said Mina. "You were recommended to us by a Mr Campion Bond …"

"Ah," said Quong Lee. "Then perhaps we had best talk somewhere more private. Through here, if you please."

He walked into the back room, and we followed.

"I see that Mr Bond's name is familiar to you," said Mina. "Perhaps you know already why we have been sent here: we seek information on a man they call 'The Doctor.' Though, as I've come to understand, he also goes by Fu Manchu."

There were a few moments of silence.

"He …" said Quong Lee. "… He is known to me."

"You don't seem very keen to discuss him," Griffin accused.

I reached over and held a hand over Griffin's mouth. He tried to pull it away from him, but his strength was no match for mine. "Quiet, Invisibitch, we're at work here," I said.

Quong Lee, for his part, didn't even acknowledge that this had just happened.

"Mr Quong," said Mina, "we need to know this Doctor's whereabouts. It is a matter of direct importance."

"Naturally," said Quong Lee. "With The Doctor, all things **are**. The waters lap beneath the heavenly bridge. The dragon sleeps below the waters. My advice to you: do not awaken it."

Griffin mumbled something from beneath my hand. Sighing, I released my hold on him so he could speak.

" **Thank you** ," The Invisible Man practically growled at me. "We didn't come here to have our fortunes told, old man …"

"Ignore my colleagues' childish bickering, sir," said Mina, "but can you not be more direct in your advice? What else have you to offer us, save for your parables?"

"Tea," said Quong Lee. "Fine tea."

And so we left the shop.

"Huh," huffed Griffin. "Wisdom of the Orient, my eye! All bluff. He clearly didn't know a thing."

"How did **you** invent an invisibility formula?" I asked him. "I mean, really? Someone as brain-dead as you invented a piece of revolutionary science … I'm starting to think you're not quite the man you claim to be, Invisibitch."

"Would you **stop** calling me that!?"

" _Men …_ " Mina muttered under her breath. "Contrary to what you say, Mr Griffin, I think Mr Quong knows a lot more than he can safely tell. All he can do is hint."

"Really?" asked Griffin, incredulous. "I'll wager if I just went back there and took off these spectacles, he'd tell us everything. Besides, what kind of hint was that? All that 'The dragon hovers over the pagoda' nonsense?"

"That isn't what he said," said Mina. "He said the dragon was below the water, and the water …"

"The water was below the bridge," I finished.

Limehouse also contained Rotherhithe Bridge, which was right over the Thames.

* * *

 _ **Blue Heart's POV**_

* * *

This area of Limehouse was seedy as all hell, but I really hadn't expected anything different. On one hand, I felt very sorry for these people because of the state they were in, but on the other, I knew that people in a place like this wouldn't think twice about stabbing you up for whatever you were wearing, or something as small as maybe glancing at one of them in the wrong way. It was the grim part of London, the part that the Americans always insist on showing in films that take place in 19th Century England (I'm looking at you, Tim Burton!).

"What did she say?" Jekyll asked as Quatermain got back to us.

"No more than she had to," said Quatermain. "She was frightened, like the others we've approached. I told her I was after opium. She mentioned someone called Ho Ling at Shanghai Charlie's."

We started walking through the area.

"Y-You aren't really seeking opium, are you?" Jekyll asked.

"No," said Quatermain. "Rather surprisingly, I'm not. It's a funny thing, but I'd much rather face a horde of screaming Bantus than receive another ticking off from either Miss Murray or Mr Verser."

A smile came across my face. The fact that Quatermain was not craving his drugs on this venture was very good news to me, indeed. Though I suppose adventure in itself can be a kind of drug, can't it? It would go a long way to explaining why Dexter can almost never choose a peaceful world to visit – he just **has** to go for one where there's danger at every turn.

Still, I suppose everyone has their vices. Mine just happens to be sex.

That's one personality trait Dexter and I share.

"Miss Murray's a rum sort, isn't she?" asked Jekyll. "I can't see what she's doing with notorious types like us."

"Neither can I," said Quatermain. "Apparently, something ghastly happened to her last year, but she doesn't talk about it. She divorced her husband … rather a relief for the poor fellow, I imagine … and now she mopes round in that bloody scarf all day. Infuriating woman."

Jekyll hummed. "Very striking profile, though, don't you agree?"

"She is very attractive in a dignified way, yes," I said. Then, in irritation, I added: "I assure you that Mina is more than qualified to be part of this team. I know about what happened to her last year, and if you did, I know for a fact you wouldn't be as crappy about this as you're being. I'll never understand why women being strong is so **wrong** to you people! Fair enough, she has a wall up, but would you stop and consider for just one second that it might have been her **husband** who as the shithead in their marriage? For fuck sake."

Quatermain and Jekyll just stared at me with wide eyes.

"Oh, yes, I'm less likely to keep quiet than Dexter, too."

"… You really are a woman," Quatermain said with exasperation.

"I-Is the opium den very far?" Jekyll asked, presumably to divert the direction of the conversation.

Quatermain seemed to be about to answer when we turned a corner and he paused. "… It's right in front of us," he said. He was looking at a building with a sign that said **Shen Yan Barber**.

We went in.

Even if I hadn't known this was the place beforehand, I would have known it the second I set foot inside. It brought to mind the opium den in Cairo where Dexter and Mina had found Quatermain, only this one was filled with Chinamen rather than Arabs. It was dark and dingy and everyone seemed to be getting high on something or other. A shiver ran down my spine as we walked through and I felt dozens of pairs of eyes crawling all over my body like vultures who have just found their next meal.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" asked Jekyll. "I'm nervous enough already. I don't want anything setting off one of my attacks."

"Don't let the barber's sign deceive you," said Quatermain. "As I recall, Shen Yan is Shanghai Charlie's real name. As for everything else, just stay calm and follow my lead." He led us to the man at the counter on the far side of the room. " **Ah**. Noble Shen Yan. I wonder, can you help me? I am looking for my friend Ho Ling. I think that he has something for me."

"Ho Ling is at the rear, consulting with the manager," said Shen Yan. "He must not be disturbed. Ho Ling was not too **good** a friend of yours, I hope?"

"Was …? Oh, you mean Ho Ling? That dog? Certainly not! It … it was money that he owes me. That's why I was looking for him. In fact, I …" Quatermain was interrupted by an angry-looking man opening the door behind the counter, "… uh …"

The man who came from the back room was holding up a paintbrush with yellow liquid on it that had red smoke coming off it. " _Lǎobǎn xūyào gèng duō de shuāzi_ ," he said in Chinese. " _Zhèxiē dōu shì rónghuà de. Kàn zhège. Méi yòng de._ " **The boss needs more brushes. These are melting. Look at this. It's useless.**

The door behind the man opened just enough to see the flame-lighted room within. There was a fat man – presumably, Ho Ling – who was strung up by the arms with a thinner, older man sat in front of him, painting yellow Chinese lettering onto his chest with that same smoking "paint" that was melting the brush. Ho Ling was gagged and clearly in great pain. The sight of it disgusted me … but knowing that interrupting would likely cause a riot in Limehouse, which may well impede the turn of events, I stayed my hand and swallowed down my disgust.

" _Wǒ xiǎng yào lìng yīgè_ ," said the angry man who had come from the back room. **I want another one.**

" _Hǎo ba, hěn kuài, lǎobǎn zài děngdài_ ," said Shen Yan in a panic. " _Qǐng yuánliàng wǒ. Wǒ zài zhèlǐ yǒu yīgè xīn de huàbǐ._ " **All right, quickly, the boss is waiting. Please forgive me. I have a new brush here.**

" _Kuài diǎn, báichī, lǎobǎn zài xiě shī_!" **Hurry up, idiot, the boss is writing poetry!**

I got a good look at what was written in acid on the poor bastard's chest.

 _The stars are destiny's verse_

 _A man without scars_

 _Is an unwritten book._

It was all in Chinese, of course, but that was what it translated out to. The fact that it merely mentioned "scars" gave me some hope that the poor sod might yet survive this experience, but I had an awful feeling that it was false hope. You didn't get to be the rival of James Moriarty by being merciful, after all.

" _Kàn zhège_!" said Shen Yan. " _Wǒ zhǎodàole yīgè_!" **Look at this! I found one!** He brandished two paint brushes.

" _Bǎ tā gěi wǒ_!" said the angry man. " _Wǒ hěn jí_!" **Give it to me! I'm in a hurry!** He snatched the brushes from Shen Yan. " _Zuìhòu! Xià cì zài kuài yīdiǎn_!" **Finally! Next time, be quicker!** He went back into the back room and slammed the door shut again.

"Uh …" Quatermain said uncomfortably. "Well, I can see Ho Ling has more important matters to concern him than my trivial debt. My friends and I had best be going. Please forgive us for imposing on you."

We turned around and started to walk away.

"Wait," said Shen Yan.

As we pulled to a sudden, startled stop, Jekyll's face tightened significantly. It was quite clear he was trying not to let himself get stressed out by the situation.

"Something about your story, sir, does not ring true," said Shen Yan. "To me, you have the look of one with a desire for opium. Ho Ling sold opium. Why do you pretend he owes you **money**?"

As Quatermain turned back around to talk to the man, Jekyll closed his eyes and started to take deep breaths.

"Uh … forgive me, wise one," said Quatermain. "Truly, nothing can escape your eye. Ho Ling had promised to supply me opium, yet sold me **tar** instead. It was my money that I wanted back."

"Then why not say so?" asked Shen Yan. "Lying to Shen Yan could leave you and your friend there with your throats cut, and your pretty lady friend the plaything of every man in here."

I suddenly felt a great need to rip this man's balls off and beat him to death with them.

"I … I felt foolish to be gulled by such a trick, like a schoolboy," said Quatermain.

"Ha!" said Shen Yan. "You were right to feel foolish. You deserve to be tricked."

Beside me, Jekyll gritted his teeth as his skin seemed to start squeezing against his skull. His teeth sharpened to a point and he squeezed his eyes shut in pain.

I grabbed onto one of his hands and squeezed. He squeezed back tightly enough that it would have broken the bones in any normal person's hand. "Sh, sh, sh," I said in what I hoped was a soothing tone. "Calm down, Jekyll. Hey, keep calm, deep breaths. We'll be out of here in no time."

"What ails your friend there?" asked Shen Yan.

"H-He's sick," said Quatermain. "He needs opium badly, and he … uh … he ate the tar by mistake."

" **Ha ha ha**! What idiots you are! Be gone from here, and give thanks that your sorry tale amused us. The next time I see your faces, you won't be so lucky."

I finally decided that enough was enough. Since we were about to leave, I really didn't see the harm in making sure this asshole got at least **something** that vaguely resembled a punishment. With that in mind, I walked over to the counter, placed a hand on either side of his head, and yanked downwards, smashing his head off the counter with a loud _CRACK!_

He slumped, unconscious, to the floor.

Everyone in the room was silent.

They were all staring at me.

"What?" I asked as if nothing had just happened.

Everyone went back to taking their drugs and having their conversations. They did so in quite a rush. It amused me greatly.

"You coming, boys?" I asked, walking past Quatermain and Jekyll.

They followed soon after.

"What the Devil is wrong with you two!?" Quatermain asked once we were out. "Jekyll's fidgeting in there was bad enough, but then you just **had** to go and make a scene like that, didn't you, Verser? Or whatever your name is!"

"I'm Blue Heart, thank you very much," I said. "And you seriously can't be saying that bastard didn't have something coming to him."

"Well, of course, he did, but we're trying to operate under this little thing called **discretion**!"

"I … I was scared that they might kill us," said Jekyll. "I'm afraid I … I almost lost control. If it weren't for Mr Vers— Blue Heart trying to calm me down, I fear I would have lost control."

Quatermain looked sheepish. "Thank goodness that you did," he said to me. "After what was in that back room, Jekyll going berserk would have been all that we were short of!"

"Why?" asked Jekyll. "What did you see?"

"There was … It's difficult to describe. There was a man being tortured. I assume it was Ho Ling. He must have cheated his masters. They were writing on him. In caustic paint."

"My God," said Jekyll, greatly disturbed. "How horrible!"

"I've seen worse," said Quatermain. "It wasn't the torture that unnerved me. It was the man performing it. I say 'man,' but … Jekyll, he turned to look at me. His eyes were … I'll tell you, that room was very much like hell … and he was very much like Satan."

"I've met Devils," I said. "But just from seeing that one man being tortured, I think Fu Manchu is worse than a number of them."

I let that hang in the air as we continued to walk.

* * *

 _ **Dexter Verser's POV**_

* * *

We were all sitting around a small table with a map of London on it. Well, most of us were, anyway – Nemo was standing, looking as deadly serious as usual. I'd sent Blue Heart away once we'd all gotten back; there was no need to keep her out at this point.

"So, gentlemen …" said Mina, "… it seems that we have made some headway."

"Well, I suppose if you count almost getting used as writing paper by an Oriental demon making headway …" said Quatermain.

"You saw him, that's the main thing," said Mina. "Now we know he's real. Added to what was learned by Mr Griffin, Dexter, and myself, I rather think we're getting somewhere."

"You mean your fancies concerning Rotherhithe Bridge?" Nemo scoffed.

"They're more than fancies, Captain," said Mina. "Everything makes sense. The bridge was built ten years ago, after the planned tunnel linking Rotherhithe and Shadwell was abandoned halfway through as costly and unsafe. My point is that the uncompleted tunnel is still there, below the river."

"How is that relevant?" asked Quatermain.

"The tunnel had an opening in Limehouse," Mina explained. "When the project was closed down, the land concerned was bought up by a charity. They built a poorhouse there across the entrance of the half-made, useless tunnel. It transpires that the financial backer of this charity is an unnamed Oriental businessman …"

"Fu Manchu has an underwater base …" I said, sighing. "Good God, it's like some sort of espionage adventure novel." _Which is very appropriate, now that I think about it,_ I added in my head.

"And you think this financial backer is our Devil Doctor?" Quatermain asked, incredulous. "Surely there are lots of Oriental businessmen that work in Limehouse?"

"I told her that," said Griffin. "She thinks she's Sherlock Holmes, back from the dead!"

For a second, I came very close to correcting Griffin and telling him that Sherlock Holmes is alive and well … but then I remembered that the events at Reichenbach Fall in this world ended vastly different to any other version I am aware of. All because Moriarty was secretly an agent for the British government and they couldn't afford to let Sherlock figure this out if he were to get out alive. Back when I was a human, I would occasionally wonder about Alan Moore's mental health because of just how bleak he portrayed anything – if any character and/or group had anything negative about them, he turned it up to 11 and, as a consequence, turned pretty much everyone into an anti-hero, anti-villain, or just a straight-up villain. Nevertheless, I could not afford to let slip that Sherlock was still alive and living as a beekeper in Sussex for risk of someone like Griffin letting the information slip and getting the man killed.

I think the only exception in _The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen_ was Mina, come to think of it.

"I think no such thing!" Mina fervently denied. "Rather, it is you men who, typically, are not doing any thinking at all!"

"She's right," said Jekyll. "I think I see Miss Murray's line of reasoning on this. I mean, if this Chinaman has stolen the Cavorite, he's done so for a purpose."

" **Exactly**!" said Mina. " **Thank** you, Dr Jekyll. At least **someone** has considered things. What purpose could the lord of Limehouse have for Cavorite?"

"Don't be ridiculous," said Nemo. "Cavorite is the key to anti-gravity. As Mr Bond pointed out, an enemy of Britain would undoubtedly use it to make lethal airships. We all know that!"

"Where would they make them?" inquired Mina. There was a note of sarcasm in her voice. "The middle of Oxford Street, perhaps?"

"What are you talking about?" Nemo asked as if she were an idiot.

"She was being sarcastic, Nemo," I said. "The fact that you thought she was being serious makes you look like a bloody idiot. Anyway, I think what she's getting at is that there needs to be a **lot** of fucking space for building ships like that, but there's nowhere near Limehouse with that much space that isn't also easily accessible to the public. It would be downright stupid to try building something like this in a place that exposed. So …" I rolled two fingers around in the air, silently urging the others to use their fucking brains.

I could practically hear the _click_ in Quatermain's head when his eyes widened and he dove toward the map on the table. "God, it's obvious!" he said in shock. "The tunnel! He's building something in the tunnel and so he erects—"

{Hehe, he said 'erects'} said James Adams.

 _Shut it,_ I thought to him.

"—the poorhouse right across its mouth to cover it!"

"Hm," said Griffin. "Terribly clever, I'm sure, but how do we get in?"

"Through the poorhouse, I'd imagine," said Mina. "Some of us might pose as beggars and obtain a bed there. Once inside, we could investigate."

"I'll do it," I said. "I'll just have to dirty myself up a bit." I had to repress a shudder. I like being clean.

"Not for me," Nemo said immediately. "No more posing as a beggar or a servant."

"After almost losing control earlier, I daren't take on more undercover work," said Jekyll. "Perhaps if I remained in the background, offering reinforcements if necessary?"

"Very well," said Mina. "That leaves Dexter, Griffin, Quatermain, and myself. We'd best prepare, gentlemen."

* * *

I don't quite know how to build up to what I'm about to say next, so I'll just come out and say it: I dressed as a Victorian version of Chester E. Bum from Doug Walker's _Bum Reviews_ videos. The outfit was a dirty brown long-coat that was all ripped up at the bottom, a pair of dirty brown trousers that were ripped at the knees, and the same orange and black beanie that Chester wears, though it was dirty enough to hide the more modern colouring. My normally straight hair was left dishevelled, with some of it drooping over my face. I dirtied my face up a bit for good measure.

As I walked off the _Nautilus_ to meet Mina, I nearly chuckled at the double-take she did when she saw me.

"Well … you certainly look the part," she said.

"I wanted to look convincing," I said. "Trust me, I'm not any happier about this look than you are." _Though I do love Chester E. Bum,_ I silently added.

Then Quatermain showed up in full _Peaky Blinders_ gear. The clothes were old-looking, though, and they did give off the impression that they were the cheapest thing available, so it didn't distract too much. He was holding something long in a bundle of cloth.

"You, too, look suitably haggard, Mr Quatermain," said Mina. "But what on Earth is that you're carrying in your bundle?"

"It's an elephant gun," said Quatermain. "You said I'd best prepare. Well, after seeing that yellow devil at his work this afternoon, I'm prepared. Shall we look for this poorhouse?"

"Of course," said Mina. "Griffin and Jekyll should be in position by now."

"You know you don't need the elephant gun, right?" I said as we walked. "I have a pair of revolvers in my belt under this. Plus, I could probably take apart anyone who comes up against us with my bare hands. We're not exactly in much trouble here."

"This Fu Manchu is an opium warlord," said Quatermain. "Out east, they have entire criminal secret societies in their employ called triads."

"I'm aware."

"This Doctor is the first to export this idea."

"Again, I'm aware. But does that really call for a big gun that has one shot and takes fucking **ages** to load?"

"Just let me have my comforts, will you?"

I sighed. "Fair enough, then."

"Ah. Look," said Mina, pointing. "There's Jekyll now. Give him the signal so he'll know we've seen him."

"If you say so," said Quatermain. He raised his hat in a greeting gesture to Jekyll, who was standing on a street corner in a suit, looking sophisticated. "I was talking with him earlier. I've never met a man more guilty or more haunted. Not like **Griffin** …"

"Quite. Mr Griffin seems utterly incapable of suffering remorse. I rather think our so-called 'alienists' could learn much about criminal insanity by talking with him."

"Jekyll has a condition, but Griffin is a psychopath," I said. "Griffin is completely self-obsessed and cares absolutely nothing for others. There really isn't any comparison between him and Jekyll. Hyde is an entirely different subject, but I still don't think his violent tendencies can hold a candle to the pure **evil** that is Hawley Griffin. Hyde, at the very least, seems like he has to be in a bad mood before he'll kill you."

"Let's hope we never have to find out if you're right," said Quatermain.

"Indeed," said Mina. "Now, here is the poorhouse just ahead. Remember, Dexter and I are a married couple of good character who've fallen on hard times, and Mr Quatermain is my father."

"Yes, Mina, we remember the plan," I said. "It's almost like we heard it ten minutes ago. Oh, wait …"

The small glare she levelled me before she knocked on the poorhouse door told me that my sarcasm was not very appreciated.

As we waited for the door to be answered, I could not help but admire the plaque on the wall beside the door with all the names listed. It likely meant nothing to the people of this universe, but the fact that Alan Moore had found a way to sneak in the names of H. Rider Haggard (creator of Allan Quatermain), Sax Rohmer (creator of Fu Manchu), Edgar Allan Poe (creator of C. Auguste Dupin), Robert Louis Stevenson (creator of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde), Bram Stoker (creator of Mina Murray, known in his book as Mina Harker), Jules Verne (creator of Captain Nemo), and H. G. Wells (creator of Hawley Griffin) was a testament to how good he is at including minor details that have larger meanings. If I weren't currently living out the events of his comic, I would have been fanboying like a lunatic.

The door was opened by a Chinese man. "Yes? What do you want?"

"Please, sir," Mina said in a faux low-class accent. "Me, my Arthur, and my poor ailin' father here was seeking beds, seeing as 'ow we've no place to sleep. Ain't that right?"

"Oh, aye," I said. "It's been a right rough time, let me tell you. Bloody freezin' out 'ere, it is."

"Uh … blimey, yuss!" said Quatermain in what was, I won't lie, the most terrible fake low-class accent I'd ever heard. Luckily, however, it seemed to be fooling the man at the door. "Not 'alf it ain't! Stripe me!"

{Here's hoping this guy never takes up a career in acting} said Jim Kirk.

 _To be fair, he sounds like Sean Connery,_ I thought. _That must make putting on any voices at all complete_ hell _for him._

"Huh," said the man at the door. He looked between Mina and I. "You married, no be together here. Man sleep one place, ladies sleep different place."

"Naturally!" said Mina. Then, realising her slip-up, she amended, "I-I mean, we **are** married, but we're not **that** married, are we, Arthur?"

"Nah," I said, waving a hand in the air. "I'll prolly get along better with me dad 'n law, anyway."

"Very well," said the man at the door. He stepped aside to let us through. "Then is beds here. Remember, in here is no drink. Make mess, you clean up."

"All three of us are tee-total, me and these two," said Mina. "We won't give you any fuss."

"Good, then you follow me and …" The man suddenly made a noise that portrayed shock and a sudden loss of breath as he stumbled backwards slightly. That would be Griffin pushing past him. "W-What …? What that push past? I feel it push …"

"Uh, yes. Yes, I felt it, too. Gust of wind, I expect. Don't you think, Arthur? Dad?"

"Aye, love," I said. "It's just a bit windy out tonight."

"Gust o' wind," Quatermain agreed. "Gor blimey, yuss."

"B-But …" the man sputtered, then took a breath to calm down. "No. No, you right. Just wind. Inside now. You follow me, ladies mans sleeping place."

"You're very kind, sir," said Mina as we were let in. "Isn't he, Arthur?"

"Aye, he's a decent bloke," I agreed.

From there, we were shown to the rooms. Quatermain and I were dropped off in the very first one, while Mina was taken along to the women's quarters somewhere down the hall. I looked around the room we were left in and felt a wave of disgust mixed with pity when I truly saw the conditions the poor were being left in. You remember what the charity collector said about the homeless' opinion of poorhouses in _A Christmas Carol_? "Frankly, some would rather die." Well, looking at the state of this place, it was easy to see why. The place was filthy and the "beds" we had been promised were little more than worn mattresses scattered about along the floor. Pretty much all the people here looked like they were on death's door. It wasn't a very pleasant atmosphere.

 _Note to self,_ I thought. _Buy up a shitload of houses and become a landlord. I won't need to charge rent, so this should work out well for everyone._

But that was a plan for another day.

We only stayed in that room long enough for the man to walk away, then Quatermain and I were on our feet and quietly walking out into the hall. Mina was already there waiting for us.

"Well, we're in …" said Mina. "And I think Griffin's in, too. Which way now?"

"Well, I suppose we—"

Shortly after he suddenly cut himself off, Quatermain shoved me forward … and right into Mina. Through the animé logic that the Multiverse keeps throwing at us (which made even less sense in this comic book setting than it normally did), of **course** , our lips were the main thing that met as we collided with one another. It only lasted a second or so, but in that time, I couldn't help but revel in the soft, moist feeling of Mina's lips. I like to think the fact that she didn't immediately push me off meant she got some enjoyment out of it just as I did.

Mina and I sharply pulled away from each other almost as suddenly as we'd collided with each other. There was an older lady passing us by.

"Oh! Blimey!" Quatermain said in faux shock. "You've caught me daughter and 'er husband at it! It's just a goodnight kiss, mind – they ain't stupid enough to do more while I'm 'ere, eh? Be a sport and don't let on, won't ya?"

"Ooh, don't worry," said the woman. "I was young and 'ad a chap meself, once. You enjoy 'im while you can, love."

"Y-Yes," Mina said with a little stutter. "Yes, thank you. Goodnight."

The woman went to the ladies' sleeping quarters.

And that's when Mina rounded on Quatermain, looking thunderous but with a red face.

"Sir, if you ever attempt something like that again, I shall …"

"Damn it, woman, we were in a jam!" Quatermain argued. "I'm sure Mr Verser liked it no more than you did."

"On the contrary, I've had worse shocks," I said. Quatermain just looked at me with this _Work with me so I can get out of trouble_ look, but I shrugged. "What? I'm not going to lie about it."

"… Let's just see if this place has a rear exit," said Mina. She took a final glance at me, her face red, and started walking.

We were only moving for a little while when we came to the back door we were looking for. Stepping outside, the area was dark and desolate, which was to be expected since it was behind a bunch of buildings. It was easy to see why the area had fallen into obscurity the way it had. It was clear none of the grass had been cut in ages, nor had any of the other plant life. Everything was overgrown or covered in moss. Right under Rotherhithe Bridge, there was an entrance that had plants grown over it, and I knew instantly that was what we were looking for.

"Well, there's the tunnel mouth," said Mina. "I must say, it doesn't look as if it's being used for anything outlandish. It just looks abandoned and overgrown."

"Yes, it does," said Quatermain. "In fact, the tunnel mouth is **more** overgrown than the rest of this site. Why should that be, do you suppose?"

"It'd look pretty damn suspicious if it was well-maintained, wouldn't it?" I asked. "As abandoned as this place looks, I'm willing to bet there's still some of the homeless population who comes back here sometimes. They don't want some tramp wandering in by accident or because they got curious, do they?"

"I see what you mean," said Mina. The three of us started to walk through the shrubbery and into the tunnel. "These must have been deliberately planted here to mask the entrance."

"Right," said Quatermain. This was just as we came across some collapsed tunnel. "And this builder's rubble seems a bit conveniently situated to my eye. Let's dig a little further …"

We kept on going through. Mina and Quatermain had candles which they carried with them in order to see, but I could see in the blackness just fine. One of the perks of being a Multiverser was being able to adapt my body to certain environments – much like how Blue Heart had switched to infrared when it came to finding Griffin, I could switch my eyes to night-vision at a moments' notice. Of course, it might also have something to do with being a Devil, but whatever. I swear I'm not ignoring details just to make myself look good.

{Liar}

 _SHUT THE FUCK UP, SKULDUGGERY!_

… Moving on.

We reached what would appear to be the end of the tunnel, as any further progress was made impossible by a significant amount of rubble.

"More rubble, blocking the tunnel," said Quatermain. "Perhaps we were wrong after all."

"We have to keep looking, anyway," said Mina. She looked around with her candle. "I think these stairs must lead to one of the tunnel's upper maintenance levels …"

"The fact that there's a light at the top may also be an indicator," I said dryly.

Mina completely ignored me and walked up the stairs. She poked her head around the corner, then immediately withdrew it back again. "I was right," she said in a whisper. "There are Chinese guards up here. The tunnel's obviously being used for something."

"Then we'd best see what, hadn't we?" I said.

We moved up the stairs in a crouch. A guard walked past, and we quickly darted to the opposite side of the lantern-lit corridor, which led straight into another corridor. As we moved, we walked past a room that appeared to be illuminated blue, but Mina and I didn't stop to look. Quatermain slowed for a moment, however, in bafflement.

"Miss Murray? Mr Verser?" he said in shock. "Did you see that chamber? It's got a roof of glass that looks up right through the riverbed. It's unbelievable!"

"I …" said Mina. We had stopped and she was looking at the sight before us in complete shock. "Mr Quatermain, I think you'd better come and look at this … and then we'll discuss what is believable."

Even by my standards, the behemoth of a ship before us was fucking _massive_. It was no wonder they to build it underground; there was no **way** they'd have been able to build this thing above ground without it being noticed by every passer-by for miles (probably an exaggeration, but not much of one). The thing was designed to look like a green and purple Dragon and it even had a pair of sharp yellow eyes painted near the top. The white teeth of the mouth were above and below a long window, which I assumed was the bridge. There was a massive cannon jutting out of the front-centre of its "face" and smoke billowing out of its "nose."

Any of my own ships could have ripped it apart several times over, I had no doubt, but it was still an impressive sight.

"We'd best get moving," I said. "We're pretty high up, but if we wait too long, they might see us. Better to move now, I think."

With that said, I moved to start climbing down the scaffolding that would lead us to the lower floors and started the long climb down. I didn't **need** to, of course, but I thought it better to be discreet.

"We are above an abyss such as Satan's own," said Quatermain, who was just above me. "Pray do not look down, Miss Murray."

"And you, sir, should not look **up** ," said Mina. "You have me at a disadvantage and I trust you'll not misuse our situation. Having penetrated Rotherhithe's abandoned tunnel, we must now endeavour to locate the stolen Cavorite."

"And I've seen hell, Quatermain," I said as we descended. "Several hells, in fact. Some are worse than this, some are better – that thing is just a really big machine, and machines can be **broken**."

"Let's hope we can climb down the scaffolding before any of The Doctor's labourers spot us," said Quatermain.

"Even if they do spot us, we should be reasonably safe," I said. "If I couldn't shoot well enough to take on these sorry sods, I'd have forgotten the face of my father."

"What?"

"Nothing you need to worry about just now."

We kept climbing down for a little bit longer.

"It can't be much further now," said Mina. "You two realise, of course, our Chinese adversary must intend to steer his dragon vessel straight out through the poorhouse he's constructed at the tunnel mouth?"

"Unbelievable," said Quatermain.

"Not really," I said. "You saw him paint a man with acid. D'you really think he's above killing a bunch of poor people to achieve his goals? The man's a psychopath."

I reached the bottom of the scaffolding and climbed off. Quatermain followed after me, and Mina followed after him.

"Indeed," said Mina. "Any doubts I had about Bond asking that we find the Cavorite are vanished."

"Keep your voices down," said Quatermain. He was peaking out from behind the crates that were so conveniently next to us. "There's construction going on behind these crates."

Mina peaked out, too. "Not really," she said. "From what I can see, they all seem to be far too busy bowing to pick up a hammer."

"What? What do you mean? Let me see …" He stood up a bit and peaked, as did I. True to Mina's words, all of the workers were on their knees, bowing their heads with their arms spread out in front of them like they were worshipping their god. "Oh my God, you're right. In heaven's name, get back behind the crates. Don't let him see you!" He pulled Mina down and we all sat with our backs to the crates.

The thing that had us so desperate to get out of sight was Fu Manchu himself. He was being carried through this God forsaken place on a throne that really demonstrated the man's massive ego. There were two men at the front and two at the back holding wooden poles to keep the throne suspended in the air. There was a very short man in front of them all beating out a rhythm on a drum as they walked.

 _It's genuinely amazing how a normal human can inspire this much awe and fear in his followers,_ I thought. _Some of our enemies with actual_ power _don't get reactions like this … Slightly terrifying._

"I-Is that him?" Mina asked in a hushed voice. "Is that this Fu Manchu fellow, the lord of Limehouse?"

"Yes, that's him," said Quatermain. "The last time I saw him he was writing on a live man's skin with acid. Please excuse me, but I rather think it's time that I unwrapped my gun …"

"Don't be ridiculous! That stupid thing has one shot and that's it, from what I understand of elephant guns. His hordes would be on us before you could possibly reload."

"I don't care. I'll just feel much happier with it beneath my arm."

"I can understand that," I said. "I feel much more comfortable with my guns on me. It's why I've always got my revolvers strapped to my hips."

"I'm sure we'll be all right," said Mina. We got up and started walking in the direction away from the workers. "This must be some chance inspection that Manchu's suddenly decided on. My guess is that he'll be departing presently. I can't say that I got a proper look at him …"

"Be glad," said Quatermain. "You'd only have bad dreams."

"Mr Quatermain, you do not know me or my history very well. More to the point, you do not have the first idea about my dreams. Dreams that were merely bad, sir, would be a great relief to me. Furthermore, they …"

" _Nǐ shì shuí_?" **Who are you?**

The bald guard practically appeared out of nowhere. He was a pale chap with very few teeth, all of which looked like they'd rotted years ago. He was clad in all black with a bright yellow moon symbol on the left side of his chest and several machetes held in holsters around his waist.

"Oh, God, a guard!" said Quatermain, going for his rifle. "He's seen u—"

Before Quatermain could finish, I held my fist up and punched it right in the guard's face. He stood there, silent, for a few moments, then fell down in rather comical fashion.

"It would be very helpful if you didn't go into a blind panic every time we were in danger, Quatermain," I said. "A good whack to the face, that's all it took to solve that problem. Now, shall we move o—"

 _SCHLICK!_

 **(Play "Charging the Keep" by Audiomachine)**

The sound of flesh being cut through froze me in my tracks. I had turned away from the guard to address Mina and Quatermain, yet now I remembered just who had gotten them out of that little jam in canon and **how** he had done it. Shaking in a fury from what I knew I would find when I turned around, I slowly turned myself to face the corpse of the previously unconscious guard who now had his throat cut open and blood was spilling everywhere … and the bloodied, apparently floating machete which had clearly been taken right out of one of the man's holsters.

"There," said Griffin. "And how are you thr—"

I grabbed the bastard by the throat and shoved him against a wall. The machete fell from his hands in his shock and I could feel in invisible hands clawing at my arm to get me off. It did him no good. _This … this SON OF A BITCH just killed a man who was already out!_ I thought in a rage. _Just cut the throat of a man who had no way of fighting back!_

"I ought to snap your neck like a fucking **twig** ," I said dangerously as Griffin struggled against me. "That man was dealt with … Why the **hell** did you do that!?"

"Mr Verser," Quatermain hissed at me. "I understand that what he just did was abhorrent, but **please** , now is hardly the time …"

{Do it!} that slithery little voice within me whispered. It was the voice of The Darkness, an extra "passenger" I had picked up that gave me a rather large skill in umbrakinesis … with the very large downside that it liked to eat hearts in order to become more powerful. {He **deserves** it … Embrace your anger … Kill him!}

I did my best to block out the voice, though I didn't release my hold on Griffin's throat and his struggles seemed to be weakening.

"Dexter, calm down," Mina said firmly. There wasn't a hint of panic in her voice – this wasn't a request, this was an order. "Release him."

And much to my own surprise, I did so.

 **(End "Charging the Keep" by Audiomachine)**

I heard Griffin fall to the floor and scramble away from me amidst deep, rapid breaths of air.

"You're mad!" Griffin accused. "Completely, undeniably mad! Didn't you two see it? This lunatic just tried to kill me!"

"And you just cut this poor beggar's throat in his sleep," said Quatermain.

" _Aheheh_. Would it have been more sporting to do it while he was awake? The man was going to wake up and report your presence eventually. Frankly, I think I saved you three a lot of trouble."

"Griffin," I said coldly. "Shut your damn mouth."

"It's just as well you didn't get any blood on his clothes," Mina said, kneeling down next to the dead man. "Help me get it off him. You can wear it to retrieve the Cavorite, Mr Quatermain."

" _Aheheh_ ," Griffin laughed. "My. How admirably callous."

"Shut up, Griffin. You disgust me. You may as well leave this to me, Dexter, and Quatermain. Go and fetch Jekyll. He can provide us a diversion to help get us and the Cavorite out of here."

"Well, if you're certain you can get by without me … I tell you what." He picked up the bloodied machete and stabbed it into a nearby crate. "I'll leave this machete here for you, shall I?"

"Just go!" said Quatermain. "Bring Jekyll here as soon as possible, all right, Griffin? Griffin?"

"He's gone," I said. "And good riddance to him."

* * *

 _ **Third Person POV**_

* * *

Griffin's breath wheezed out of him as he made his way back through the area to get to where Jekyll was waiting. _Damn that Verser,_ he thought, seething silently to himself. _I get that lot out of a jam and the bastard damn near chokes me to death. The nerve! So what does it matter if I killed a man in his sleep? It's not like the bugger would have seen me to fight back, anyway._

Griffin really wanted to kill Dexter Verser.

He **really** wanted to.

But how would he manage it?

 _I'll think of something,_ he thought with certainty. _I'll have him dead at my feet soon enough. If I'm lucky, I might even have my way with that little tart of a woman he can turn into._

He pushed his way through a door, leaving a bloody handprint on its surface. He walked until he reached the entrance to the tunnel, then went through the poorhouse. He got onto the street and kept walking until he reached where Jekyll was still standing on the street corner.

"Jekyll …" he whispered.

" **AAAA!** " Jekyll cried out in shock.

"Oh, for God's **sake** , Jekyll, don't be such a **woman**! It's **me**. Quatermain and Murray need you to create a diversion."

"G-Griffin. Thank God. But … I mean, my diversion. It's just I'm not sure I can … you know. Not just like **that**."

"We'll manage between us. Come on."

They started walking toward the poorhouse.

"But my condition depends upon my **emotions**. What if I can't get into the **mood**?"

"Jekyll, be quiet. Just do your bit."

They walked into the poorhouse. Jekyll tried to put on the most stern-looking face he could, but it wasn't very convincing. Griffin wondered how he had ever been paired up with this idiot.

Jekyll walked up to the man behind the front desk and said, "I … I demand to see the manager!"

The Chinese man looked at him in confusion. "What you want? No manager here."

"B-But I, uh, I really must insist that I, uh …"

"Jekyll," Griffin growled, "in the name of Christ, just **hit** him!"

"Stop **badgering** me!" Jekyll snapped at him. "I'll do this in my own way!"

"Mister, you bad in head," said the Chinese man. "You get out now, please. I call help."

As though on cue, two larger Chinese men turned up. " _Tā shì shénme_?" one of them asked. **What is it?**

" _Bǎituō zhège húndàn_ ," said the man Jekyll had been talking to. **Get rid of this bastard.**

"There, you bloody weakling!" Griffin snapped. "Now you've messed everything up!"

"Will you stop **hectoring** me?" Jekyll asked desperately. "I can't **think**!" The two larger men grabbed him by his arms. " **No**! Leave me **alone**! You take your hands **off** of me, do you hear? I said …" his eyes widened and became bloodshot, " **… leave …** " he grew visibly taller and his face turned angry, " _ **… me …**_ " he gritted his teeth, " _ **… ALONE!**_ "

Edward Hyde's massive body ripped through Henry Jekyll's clothes and then he grabbed the arm of one of the men who had been holding him and ripped his arm in two, splattering blood everywhere.

The man's screams of pain seemed to pierce the night itself.

And that was **before** Hyde used his massive sharp teeth to bite the other man's hand off.

"And next time …" Hyde growled, "… if I say I want to see a manager …" he grabbed the man who had been sitting behind the desk, "… then bring … me … **the MANAGER!** " He bit into the man's neck and pulled with both his arms. The poor sod's screams didn't even get to last very long as Hyde ripped him clean in half and then threw his two halves to separate sides of the room.

"J-Jekyll?" Griffin asked in genuine fear. "Jekyll, i-is that **you**?"

"Of **course** it's not, you cretinous **freak** ," said Hyde. "I'm Edward Hyde. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr Griffin."

One of the lanterns that had been on the walls had been knocked off during Hyde's little rampage. Now the fire of the lantern was spreading.

"Uh … w-we need to move quickly. Y-You've started a fire."

"Oh, I can see that, Mr Griffin. I'm not **blind** , you know."

Was it Griffin's imagination … or was Hyde staring **right** at him? "What?" he asked, suddenly nervous and paranoid. "What are you looking at?"

"Me? Nothing. Let's get on with the diversion, shall we? Wherever you are."

Hyde started walking through the poorhouse. Needless to say, he was noticed by every single person, but he didn't bother with any of them. Everyone started dashing for the exits either after they'd seen him or after they'd seen the fire. It didn't really matter, so long as they were out of the way.

" _Aheh_. Good work, Hyde," Griffin said when they were out back. "You really are quite an entertaining fellow once a chap gets to know you. The tunnel mouth is over that way." He pointed.

"Oh? And which way is that?" Hyde asked. "You keep forgetting, Griffin. I can't **see** you."

" _Aheh_. Yes, of course. I do apologise. It's right ahead of you. Past that rubble."

Hyde stomped his way through the rubble and plant life that blocked the tunnel. He sniffed for a few seconds and cringed. " **Hurrgh!** What a hole! It stinks of Chinamen and the river!"

"Really? I can't smell anything … The door's over here. We'll have to be quick if we're to rescue Murray, Quatermain, and Verser."

"Verser," Hyde growled. "Yes, I remember him from Paris. Shoved me out of a window, knocked me out, and **abducted** me. I don't think there's any great **hurry** , is there?"

"No, I wouldn't say so. I say, what do you suppose is in there?"

He was looking at a large metal door that he hadn't noticed when coming up this way the first time. It was far too big and thick to be an ordinary door. The fact that it was metal and locked gave the impression that they were keeping someone or something locked away. But the door … It looked like the sort of thing you'd keep **Hyde** in, and he was hardly a small fellow. Griffin was morbidly curious.

"I haven't the foggiest," said Hyde. He grinned. "Want to have a look?"

"Be my guest."

Hyde walked over to the door and grabbed the massive bar that was keeping it locked. He pulled it to the side with some effort, unlocking the door, and then pulled backwards. The door slid open with a metallic squeaking noise that could only come from a large piece of metal that isn't often moved from its place. Hyde stepped back and looked into the dark room.

There was something in there.

Something **big**.

 **(Play "Rise of Storm" by Soundmopi)**

It stepped out. Hyde took a step back to allow it room; Griffin took several steps back in fear. The creature was actually **bigger** than Hyde, though not by very much. In some ways, it almost looked human – certainly, its face was the most human part of it, but with a dark, nearly black colour and glowing, evil red eyes. The fact that this thing was about the same height as Hyde even though it was hunched over was a testament to how big it was. It had long, dark grey fur covering every inch of its massive body and crooked red spikes sticking out of its back in places. Its hands and feet were clawed. Stranger still, there seemed to be **lightning** sparking from its back.

"What on Earth …?" Griffin gasped.

"You're a hell of a beastie, aren't you?" Hyde asked, grinning.

 _ **ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!**_

Rather than responding, the creature roared loudly, aggressively. Then it threw one massive clawed hand at Hyde in a slashing motion. Hyde raised his hands and caught this, but he had underestimated the beast's strength. Hyde was knocked back with a jolt as the beast growled at him. The hit knocked him all the way to the other end of the tunnel.

Griffin was suddenly very glad this creature couldn't see him.

" **You want to play, then!?** " Hyde shouted.

The beast roared at him again and started to stalk toward him.

Hyde walked forward, his teeth bared.

As the two hulking creatures locked eyes, they picked up their speed and full-on **ran** at one another. As they neared each other, both of them jumped, both intent on tackling the other to the ground.

The two of them met in mid-air and Hyde was knocked back in the direction he had come, now with the creature grabbing him.

As they landed, the beast tightened its grip on Hyde, ten threw him back across the tunnel.

Hyde was now outside, behind the burning poorhouse.

"Damn," Hyde growled as he stood up. He looked at the creature, which was stalking toward him from inside the tunnel, and growled in his throat.

The creature growled back as if in challenge.

Hyde took note of a nearby carriage that looked as though it had been abandoned out here years ago and grinned to himself. He walked over to it, raised his hands, and brought them both down at its centre, shattering the middle parts and breaking it in half. He then reached his hands inside the two halves, grabbed them, and raised them up, turning back toward the creature. It was now running for him.

 _Good,_ he thought, and grinned.

As the creature reached him, its claws extended, intent on ripping him to shreds, Hyde brought his right hand round and _whacked_ the creature across the face with one half of the carriage. The creature veered off its path and stumbled to the ground. Hyde hit it again with the other hand, sending it sprawling onto its front. Then again, knocking it a few feet to the left. And again. And again.

Hyde kept this up until the carriage was nothing but splinters scattered around the area.

The creature spat blood, got onto its hands and knees, and growled at Hyde as if to say _Is that all you've got?_

"Stay the fuck **DOWN!** " Hyde shouted as he raised his fists to hit the beast again.

The beast took this as an opening and rammed its hand into Hyde's stomach, the spikes on its back sparking. Hyde once again felt that jolt, like being struck by lightning, and went flying back, crashing through one of the many buildings surrounding this place. Luckily, it was empty.

Hyde raised himself to his feet with a grunt. "For God's sake," he groaned.

He got up and charged the beast again. It charged back, once again knocking Hyde back. Hyde hit a wall, and the beast punched him in the stomach, knocking him into it again. Hyde made a lunge. The creature pushed him back into the wall. It put one of its massive arms to Hyde's throat – the thick, harp hairs pricked slightly. Hyde grunted in effort, trying to push it off, but every time he came close, the creature's back sparked again and it pushed harder.

The beast used its massive strength to lift Hyde off the ground. Hyde kept kicking and hitting it in different places, but it never released its grip.

Then Hyde's battle-hunger turned to rage and bloodlust as the creature gained a look of triumph in its eyes and saw fit to roar right in Hyde's face.

Hyde grabbed the creature's arm in his hand and squeezed as tightly as his anger would allow him to, then with a great effort, forced the arm away from his throat. He gritted his teeth at the strain. He did the same with the beast's other arm, actually succeeding in pushing the beast back. The beast's roars were now angry, savage. Then Hyde did something else the beast clearly didn't expect: he let go of its right arm.

With nothing holding is arm back anymore, the beast's hand shot forward and slammed into the wall above Hyde's shoulder.

Still holding its other arm, Hyde raised a fist and punched it into the beast's face as hard as he could. The beast staggered – Hyde still held its arm. He punched again, and again, and again. The beast was bent over from the punches. Hyde released its arm, grabbed its head, and shoved downwards. The creatures face impacted the concrete ground with a satisfying _crack!_

Knowing it wasn't finished off just yet, and seeing that its back was sparking again, Hyde grabbed one of the crooked red spikes on its back. Immediately, he felt jolts of lightning flowing through him and yelled out in pain, but he kept on pulling at the thing until it _ripped_ from the beast's back.

The beast roared out in pain and immediately stood up, its back to the wall it had just been holding Hyde up against.

Hyde pointed the sharp end of the spike at the beast's face and shoved forward.

The beast had no time to defend.

The spike stabbed through its face and through the wall, nailing it there for the foreseeable future as a geyser of blood shot out of its face and hunched back.

 **(End "Rise of Storm" by Soundmopi)**

Hyde stood there, breathing heavily for a few moments … then laughed. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I don't think I've **ever** had that much **fun**!" he announced.

"Is that what you call it?" asked Griffin. He sounded amazed. "This creature very nearly did you in."

"I know! And wasn't it exciting? So blood-pumping fun? I don't think I've ever had a proper fight until now – usually, I just kill people and they don't stand a chance. But this! This was **incredible**!" He laughed again. "Come on, Griffin, let's go save the other three. That's put me in a good mood, that has."

"Yes … I suppose we should."

As shocked as Griffin was at this turn of events, he was also incredibly curious and fascinated by it. Why had that monster been down here? What was it? Where had it come from? Many questions ran through the Invisible Man's head as he and Hyde walked back into the tunnel to enter the base of the one Verser had called Fu Manchu. There were a lot of strange things happening on this mission, and in spite of how terrifying that beast was – or maybe even **because** of how terrifying that beast was – Griffin was finding this experience very intriguing, indeed. One might even say **enjoyable**.

* * *

 _ **Dexter Verser's POV**_

* * *

The noise that drew most of the men upstairs wasn't quite what I was expecting. I was expecting screams and the sound of slaughter (not something I **wanted** , mind you, but something that was kind of unavoidable when Mr Hyde was involved). Instead, there was a lot of roaring and a **lot** of sounds akin to concrete being broken. There was something going on up there that I hadn't foreseen, and in my line of work, that's never a good sign.

I shook my head. I could worry about that later.

Quatermain was fully decked out in the uniform of the poor man whose throat Griffin had cut. I had initially tried to argue against Quatermain going and had volunteered myself, but Mina had pointed out that I would attract more attention than he would simply due to my feminine appearance. Upon reflection, I could see her point. There were no women down here, not among the workers, and one wouldn't expect there to be, either, in the Victorian era. Someone as feminine as myself would likely attract more attention than an older man like Quatermain, so I reluctantly let it slide.

"Some sort of commotion seems to be drawing them away from their workplace," said Mina. "This is your opportunity to find the Cavorite!"

"They'll spot me in an instant!" said Quatermain. "I look like a damned **pantomime** character! I wish I still had my chainmail shirt …"

"Mr Quatermain, you are far too scarred and hideous to quibble about **fashion**. We'll find the Cavorite, then get it out of here. Simply do your job, sir."

" _Fāshēngle shénme_?" a man shouted to another man on the higher levels. **What happened?**

" _Yǒuxiē rén zhèngzài lóu shàng dǎjià_ ," the man on the higher levels said. **Some people are fighting upstairs.** " _Kěwù de yěshòu yǐjīng sǐle_!" **The Abhorrent Beast has been killed!**

 _Abhorrent Beast …?_ I thought, dread settling in my stomach. _Isn't that a monster from_ Bloodborne _? What the hell is it doing here …? I mean, it's not like it's **completely** implausible, given the nature of this universe, but still ... Well, at the very least it sounds like Hyde killed it, so I'll worry about that when we're out of here. Still, something's going on and I need to find out what before some real damage is done._

It was a few seconds before I realised that Quatermain was on the move, walking into the "belly of the beast," as it were. He walked into the dragon ship in order to retrieve the Cavorite.

"He's a bit rusty, but you can't deny there's **some** of the old him still in there," I said to Mina.

"I suppose," she said. "But to read about his adventures for all of one's youth only to find him like **this** when we finally meet … It's hard not to be disappointed, as horrible as that must sound."

"No, I get it," I said. "They say 'never meet your heroes' for a reason."

"Who says that?"

"Just people. You can see the point, though, yes?"

"Yes, I rather think I can."

We waited quietly for Quatermain to rejoin us.

Surprisingly, it went well. Quatermain walked toward us with the glowing green solid-glass cylinder that contained the Cavorite.

"I've got it," he said. "The workers' attention seems to be elsewhere. Perhaps Jekyll and Griffin's diversion is working."

"What a queer thing," said Mina, looking curiously at the Cavorite. "Is it heavy?"

"No, it's … it's quite the opposite. It makes me feel strange just looking at it."

"Well, think about it, you two," I said. "If the Cavorite was heavy, it wouldn't really be a gravity-defying mineral, would it?"

"I suppose you have a point," said Mina. "Let's get it outside. I'll carry your gun, Mr Quatermain." She took the gun and we started to walk.

"But … the very **idea** of powered flight!" Quatermain said in amazement. "I know men like Robur and Captain Mors are said to have the secret, but …"

"Sir, please **hurry**!"

I very nearly smirked. Quatermain's amazement at the idea of powered flight was very amusing, especially considering that I've flown in some pretty high-tech stuff in my time. Plus the fact that I can fly on my own, anyway.

We came across a door with a bloody handprint on it.

"But it's **incredible**!" Quatermain continued. "This treated glass seems to render it inert. I imagine this bottom plate slides out, directing the energy downwards."

"Oh, for God's **sake** …" said Mina. "Why are men so obsessed with mechanisms that further nothing but destruction?" The door with the handprint on it opened and a guard made to step out. "Must—"

"Miss Murray! Behind you! It's—"

Mina simply whacked the guard unconscious with Quatermain's elephant gun.

"Yes, yes, all right," she said. "I'm not **incapable** , you know!"

"Evidently."

We walked through the door only to find that to our left, a bunch of other guards were watching where their fellow had been knocked out. They didn't look too happy about it. The all held machetes and the second they saw us, they came charging at us, yelling. There was quite a number of them.

Quicker than my companions could blink, I whipped my revolvers from their holsters at my hips and started shooting.

 _BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!_

I went for non-lethal shots – shoulders and kneecaps, mostly – and every shot hit home exactly where I wanted it to. My years of Gunslinger training had made my skills with dual-wielded revolvers near unmatched by any in the Multiverse. I fired off the twelve shots that my revolvers allowed, then, rather than reloading and carrying on, I turned around to face my two teammates.

"Let's get a move on, then," I said. "They'll think twice about following us after that, but I don't think we've got long. I'd rather avoid any unnecessary confrontations if it's all the same to you."

"Yes, I rather think you're right," said Quatermain. Then we got moving.

"I … I hadn't imagined there'd be so **many** of them …" Mina said as we ran.

"Don't worry," said Quatermain. "Griffin and Jekyll's diversion will save us, you'll see. Just a little further … and our path shall be strewn with roses!"

Mina drew to a sudden stop in front of us. "R-Roses? I-I fear you are mistaken, sir … although indeed, the **colour** is very similar."

The part of me that was amused by Mina's statement was so small that I wasn't even aware of it until later. The sight that greeted me when I looked was **horrifying**. It wasn't like I didn't see it coming, either, since I had read through all this back in my human life, but still … the image of Hyde standing amidst the corpses of all those men, their blood all over the floor, the walls, and Hyde himself, while Hyde held the torso of a man in one hand and his legs in the other with the poor bastard's hand in his mouth … It was disgusting to look at, even for me.

 _Good thing Mike isn't here to see this,_ I thought absently. _He hates death more than most people … Hard to imagine how he'd respond to seeing this shit._

" **HARRRGHHH!** " Hyde yelled through the hand in his mouth. " **GRRHA HA HA HA HUURRGH!** "

"Oh no!" said Quatermain. "Hyde's gone barmy and our way is blocked from either end! Where the hell is **Griffin**?"

"I'm here," said The Invisible Man. "What about this chamber?" He opened the door into the blue-lit room we'd seen before.

"But it's a dead end!"

"We don't have any choice," said Mina. " **Hyde**! Leave those men alone and come **here**! We need you!"

Hyde turned and glared for a moment, then spat out what was left of the hand and stalked over, ducking to get through the door as the rest of us walked into the room.

"You **dare** to order Edward Hyde as if he were a **dog**?" he growled at Mina.

"Dogs, sir, have more self-control!" Mina snapped without a hint of fear. She really is kind of a badass. "Now get in here!"

We closed and locked the door behind us as we were all inside.

"This should keep the devils out …" said Quatermain, "… although not for **long**. With the tools down in that workshop, they'll have breached the door within minutes!"

"Urrgh," Hyde groaned. " **Let** them. I can **kill** the little bastards as quick as they come at me …"

"… And if we do not think of something quickly, they will kill us **all** ," said Mina.

" _Aheh_. All of us that they can **see** , anyway," said Griffin.

"Griffin, if it came to it, I'd bloody well kill you **myself**!" snapped Quatermain.

" _Aheheh_. Careful, Quatermain. You won't see me coming, you know."

"But I **do** see you, Invisibitch," I said dangerously, "and if you try anything funny, I'll finish off what I started to do earlier."

"Stop quarrelling!" Mina said suddenly. "I have an idea! If we could break the glass roof above us, we could escape into the Thames."

"Ridiculous," said Quatermain. "We'd drown."

"I wouldn't let you," I said. "Well … not **all** of you." I didn't need to say anything for the others to know I was talking about Griffin.

"What about the Cavorite?" asked Mina. "Wouldn't it propel us up through the descending water?"

"Well … it **might** ," said Quatermain. "Better than being massacred, I suppose."

"It's a **stupid** idea," Hyde said, staring up at the glass ceiling above us. "That glass must be so thick that even **I** couldn't break it!"

"What about Quatermain's elephant gun?" Mina suggested.

The banging outside the door, which had been steadily increasing in volume during the course of our conversation, had reached a new level and was joined by the sound of a lot of metal creaking.

"The door's giving way," Quatermain said urgently. "We have to act **quickly**. We'll all hang onto Hyde. I'll fire the gun. Miss Murray, you open the Cavorite case."

It was less holding onto Hyde and more him lifting us up, in the end. He had Mina in his left arm, Quatermain in his right, and Griffin was clinging around Hyde's neck. I held onto one of his legs, which looked fucking ridiculous, but it was worth it considering what I knew was going to happen in a few moments. Still, it was slightly embarrassing.

Hyde grunted. "Not so tight around my neck, Griffin!"

"All right," said Quatermain. "On the count of three, I'll fire and Miss Murray will open the case! One … two … **three**!"

 **(Play "We Bring the Tide" by Mitchell Broom)**

 _BANG!_

The gun fired.

Mina slid the bottom off the case.

And then we were in water.

It's an odd feeling, propelling up through the water like that. Whereas air whips at you and does little to stop your ascent, water, especially water that's already acting as an opposing force, seems almost like it's trying to stop you from moving. And with how ill-prepared one would be for such an event as this, keeping a breath once you've got it is next to impossible, so you'll feel the water invading your every orifice – thank God I can breathe underwater. And luckily for the others, the Cavorite was propelling us upwards at a speed so fast that they didn't need to worry about drowning for too long.

Within a few seconds, the water was spilling off us in torrents as we shot out of the River Thames and into the skies above the city of London. The Cavorite left a great green beam in our wake as it propelled us upwards through the bottom of its case. I could feel the whipping of the air drying me off as we flew (and I also briefly noted that the poorhouse was no fire).

"The **container**!" Quatermain yelled as we continued to ascend at a rapid pace. "For God's sake, shut the **container**!"

Still gripping Griffin's leg and dangling below everybody, I made my move. From my back sprung a pair of Dragon wings which were black in colour and had a few red scales where the bones were under the skin. My Dragon blood was a little something I picked up in the world of _High School DxD_. I flapped my wings and pulled downwards. It didn't stop our descent – the Cavorite was surprisingly very powerful – but it slowed us enough that the others stopped panicking, though I don't think they realised that themselves. To tell you the truth, I don't need the Dragon wings to fly, they were just useful for providing extra resistance against the Cavorite's pull.

"I'm **trying**!" Mina said. "It won't …" the Cavorite case slid shut at last, "… budge …"

And then everyone was falling.

I kept hold of Hyde's leg, so when he fell, he just ended up dangling upside down in my grip.

"Grab the others!" I said to him.

I flew down quickly and got Hyde level with Mina. He grabbed one of her arms in his hand, which was good enough. I then flew him over to Quatermain and the same thing happened. I could see Griffin falling, but since he was going to land in the river, I really didn't see the need to do anything.

Has it come across yet that I **really** hate that invisible cunt?

 **(End "We Bring the Tide" by Mitchell Broom)**

* * *

On the _Nautilus_ about half an hour after all this, Campion Bond was addressing the lot of us. There was a makeshift dummy on the sofa with a dressing gown on, bandages wrapped around its head, and a pair of sunglasses over its eyes.

Only Nemo and I were aware that it wasn't Griffin.

"Marvellous," said Bond, holding the Cavorite in its case. "Simply **marvellous**! You've done **splendidly**. Professor Cavor will be delighted … as, of course, will my superior, Mr M."

"And our payment?" asked Mina.

"It will be deposited in your special bank account, as promised. We'll be in touch if you're needed until then. Miss Murray. Mr Verser. Gentlemen."

He left the ship.

"Supercilious little pog's pizzle," Mina said once he'd gone.

Quatermain gave a small laugh. "For once, Miss Murray, I agree with you. What about you, Griffin? You've kept uncharacteristically **quiet**. Griffin? What's …"

One bump against "Griffin" was enough to topple the dummy over and reveal exactly what had been sitting there this entire time.

"What in heaven …?" asked Quatermain.

"B-But … where **is** he?" Jekyll asked shakily. "Where's Mr Griffin?"

"He followed Bond," I said. Everyone looked at me. "I saw him following Bond, and for once, I didn't feel the need to stop him. I don't trust Bond as far as he can keep a diet up."

Nemo nodded in agreement. "And that's why I sent him," he said.

* * *

 _ **Third Person POV**_

* * *

Campion Bond walked through the streets of London with the constable who was acting as his current bodyguard. They kept on walking until they came across a building with a sign outside on a golden plaque which read: **Her Majesty's Military Intelligence Division 5**. The constable stood in front of this sign and turned around, as was customary, as Bond continued to walk into the building. He kept walking until he reached the office of his superior, M. He made to knock, but the door to the dark room slid open.

"Ahh, Mr Bond," said M., who was stood staring out his window with his hands behind his back. "Do come in. I've been expecting you."

"I, um … I have the Cavorite, sir," said Bond, placing the case on M.'s desk. "My special unit retrieved it."

"Good. And the so-called lord of Limehouse, how is **he**?"

"The Rotherhithe Tunnel flooded during the operation, as did much of Limehouse. He may be dead, sir."

"Ha, ha. No. No, not dead … but **thwarted** , certainly. In a weakened position. Tell me, Bond, does your little group have any idea who they're working for?"

"I fear Dexter Verser knows more than he's saying. He's proven to know an awful lot of things I haven't told him so far."

"Dexter Verser is a moot point. Our new friend has assured me that he will be taken care of sooner or later. What about the others? Do any of them suspect anything?"

"No, sir. I mentioned a Mr M. Miss Murray – the Harker woman – has assumed that you must be Mycroft Holmes."

" **Ha ha ha ha!** " M. laughed raucously. "Oh, that's **good**. That really is **terribly** good … but 'M' can stand for a great number of things, can it not?"

"Uh, yes, sir. Yes, it can. I'll deliver the Cavorite to your engineers at once, sir."

"Oh, **come** now, Campion, old chap …" The balding, aged face of Professor James Moriarty finally turned to face Bond in the dimly lit room. "It's James. Call me James."

* * *

 **I once again apologise for any shitty translations.**

 **So, an Abhorrent Beast from _Bloodborne_ makes an appearance. This is the first of many additions you'll be seeing in this story, ladies and gentlemen. Like the removal of the massive timeskips. Rather than jumping ahead 50 years or so like canon does on occasion, I fully intend to take advantage of this world where all fiction in our world is the reality. Just you wait until the Mollusc invasion arc if you want to see something interesting.**

 **Now, before I go, I'll answer the reviews I've gotten so far.**

 **Hero of the Multiverse:** Thank you, my friend. Nice to know you approve.

 **ZenithBloodedge:** Cheers, mate. It'll be an interesting one, to say the least.

 **Guest:** Well, I hope this second chapter has held onto that attention, dear reader.

 **That's all, folks! See you next time!**


	3. The Bombing of London

**Welcome to the third chapter of _The Multiverser of the League_ and the grand finale of the first arc!**

 **Let's begin.**

* * *

 _ **Voice Cast (how I envision characters being voiced)**_

 _ **Sherlock Holmes = Benedict Cumberbatch**_

 _ **The Gold-Eyed Man = Crispin Freeman**_

 _ **M./Mycroft Holmes = Mark Gatiss**_

* * *

 **BGMs**

 **Gravity – Tom Player**

 **London Town – Miracle of Sound**

 **Dishonoured Dead – Randy Dominguez**

 **Resurrection – Shades of the Abyss**

 **Czar – Jo Blankenburg**

 **Stone - Ninja Tracks**

* * *

 **Chapter Three: The Bombing of London**

* * *

 _ **Third Person POV**_

* * *

 _ **Reichenbach, Switzerland, 4 May 1891**_

 _The roaring of the waterfall beside them seemed not to exist as Sherlock Holmes and James Moriarty faced each other. Their focus was so intense on one another, in fact, that the entire rest of the world seemed to melt away, leaving only them. Sworn enemies, rivals, nemesis to nemesis. Everything that had happened so far had been building up to this moment and neither of them would be taken out of it for a single second._

 _"_ _Well … here we are, then," said Moriarty. He was already balding, his dark hair only remaining on the back and sides of his head, but his blue eyes were strangely youthful and excited in this moment._

 _"_ _Yes," Sherlock agreed. He was tall, lean, and confident as always, with his long face black hair. "Here we are. Clearly, the 'sick Englishwoman' who lured my friend the doctor back to our inn in Meiringen was of your devising?"_

 _"_ _Clearly," Moriarty agreed. "Surely you realised?"_

 _"Yes. Frankly, I was relieved. He's newly married. There's no need to endanger him. May I write him a note?"_

 _Moriarty smiled. "Why not? Neither of us are going anywhere."_

 _"I suppose not." Sherlock took a piece of paper and a pen from his pocket and started writing. "Nonetheless, the courtesy is very much appreciated. Thank you."_

 _"Not at all." Moriarty threw his hat and cane over the side of the outcropping they were stood on, down into the rock-filled water below. "This view and this occasion both are too magnificent to mar with pettiness. You do know, don't you, that there's nothing personal in this?"_

 _"Why, naturally. Our situation has the disaffected beauty of a chess game."_

 _" **Exactly**!" Moriarty laughed. " **Ha ha ha**! Exactly right! I'm so glad that you understand. It's **meaning** , isn't it, that lends such blessed joy to life? This spray, these sunlit peaks, the golden, mathematic logic of it all. _Ah. Ah, _what it is to be a man below so blue a sky."_

 _"Indeed. As closing acts go, I'll allow the scenery is more than adequate."_

 _"Why, sir, it is Olympian! We tread the very borders of mythology!"_

 _"I rather think you flatter both of us." He folded the letter and put it in his cigarette case. "There. I am done." He lodged the case between a pair of rocks._

 _"Sham modesty. It ill becomes you. What is leaving alpenstock and a silver cigarette case on a lonely mountain pathway, if not playing to your legend?"_

 _"It's a keepsake to a dear friend. Nothing more. I'm tired with talk, Professor. So, then. To the death?"_

 _Moriarty's face turned grim and serious. "Oh, yes. Yes, absolutely."_

 _Moriarty withdrew a dagger from his coat and charged at Sherlock. The great detective responded in kind, charging forward with his fists raised. Moriarty swung his dagger, but Sherlock ducked it and grabbed both of Moriarty's arms in his hands. Moriarty fought viciously against his adversary's grip, trying to swing his arms around but not quite managing to free himself. Using Moriarty's movements against him, Sherlock ducked down and released Moriarty's arms. Moriarty continued to push forward for just a bit too long, felt himself falling forward …_

… _and then Moriarty felt nothing but air as he plummeted, screaming, into the rock-filled river below._

 _Sherlock stared down as Moriarty vanished into the frothing waters below and hummed. He had expected it to take longer than that. He stood there, looked around for a few moments, and then turned around and started the long process of climbing up the rock face and out of this fall._

 _Below, on the rocks, the soaked, twisted, broken, yet still very much alive body of James Moriarty groaned in pain._

 _"May … God strike you … Owwhhh … May God … May God rip your bowels out, you … you sodomitic, drug-addicted … Ahh. Ahh, God … God."_

 _Speaking was difficult with the hard, uncomfortable, jagged rock against his back and the savage river whipping against his unmoving body. Moriarty had never before been in a situation where literally **everything** hurt, but by God, this was very much that kind of situation. If he didn't take so much pride in his ability to survive, he would have welcomed death in place of this pain._

 _"Professor?" came the voice of his associate, Campion Bond. He was not as overweight as he would become in just a few years, but his obnoxious look was already present. "Over here, Moran! I think I see him!"_

 _Moriarty felt hands grip him on the undersides of his arms and he was pulled out of the water by Bond and the fellow he had been working with, Sebastian Moran._

 _"Damnable mess," said Moran. "Is he alive?"_

 _"Just," said Bond. "It's all right, sir. Colonel Moran and I saw you fall. We'll get you to safety."_

 _Moriarty made a noise in his throat as he tried to speak. "Bond … my … my injuries … just ribs, I think. And my legs. The detective. Important you get the detective."_

 _"Where is he, sir?"_

 _"Climbing. Do you … Do you see? Up there, making for that ledge. He's … he's going to fake his own death. That's … that's what I'd do."_

 _"Don't worry," said Moran, loading a rifle. "I'll get up above him. Pick him off with my air-rifle."_

 _"No," said Moriarty. "Shot too difficult. Use **boulders**. **Bury** him."_

 _"You can depend on Moran, sir," said Bond as Moran moved to take the shot. "He's the best we have in Military Intelligence Group Five. The detective is as good as dead."_

 _"I know … Strange. He thought me … an enemy … of the state … Never reasoning … that it might suit the state … to create … its own enemy." Despite the pain he was in, Moriarty smiled. "Shadowboxing, Bond. We're all just … shadowboxing …"_

* * *

 _ **Vauxhall, London, August 1898**_

"'We're all just shadowboxing,'" the aged, white-haired, wrinkly-faced Moriarty said to Bond. "You'll recall, I trust, my words to you beneath the Falls of Reichenbach? They're true, Bond. They're as true now as they were then. British Intelligence **created** me, Bond. They recruited me while I was at university, just as they did with you. Naturally, I excelled at espionage. When the idea arose that MI5 should manufacture a crime-lord through whom they could control and monitor the underworld, I was the obvious choice. After Reichenbach, I was recalled here, where I rapidly ascended to become director, despite spluttering objections from embittered toads like **Mycroft Holmes**. Meanwhile, able underlings like Moran maintain my criminal empire. You see, when you begin shadowboxing, sometimes the shadows become **real**. Isn't that odd?"

"I'm not sure I follow you," said Bond.

"I mean our characters take on a life of their own," said Moriarty. "In espionage's twilight world, all shadows have **substance**. Am I, for example, a director of military intelligence posing as a criminal … or a criminal posing as a director of military intelligence … or **both**? Luckily, as concerns our current enterprise, both my personas are of one accord: both have an enemy in Limehouse who must be destroyed. Fu Manchu. I rule London's west end. He controls the east." He picked up the Cavorite case from his desk. "The Cavorite offered me the power to eliminate him, so he stole it. He wanted to use it against me, by building an airship. That's destroyed now. We have the Cavorite back … and he's **defenceless**. I must strike swiftly. How fares my own war-chariot?"

"It's completed, in its hangars near Battersea fun-fair," said Bond. "It only awaits the Cavorite."

"Good. Let's hurry there. The raid can take place tonight. All of my loyalist followers have already evacuated the city, I suggest you do the same."

"Sir?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you? As per a request from our new friend, the plan has changed somewhat. It would be unwise to stay in London."

"Why?"

"Because what's going to happen soon is going to wipe out **much** more than London's east end," a voice came from the shadows.

 **(Play "Gravity" by Tom Player)**

Bond jumped in surprise. All that was visible to him of the man in the shadows was a pair of bright golden eyes.

"You're a jumpy man, Campion Bond," said the gold-eyed man. "That doesn't exactly speak well of you, you know. If you're as afraid of dying as you look, then I suggest getting out of London as soon as you can. Preferably not downwind. Don't want the nasty leftovers to catch up with you after you narrowly managed to escape, do you?"

"N-No, I suppose not," said Bond, though he did not understand what the gold-eyed man was talking about. Bond looked at Moriarty. "Sh-Shall we get the Cavorite to your ship, then, sir?"

"Yes, I think we will," said Moriarty.

Moriarty and Bond left the room, and the gold-eyed man seemed to vanish.

 **(End "Gravity" by Tom Player)**

" _Aheheh_." Griffin laughed to himself.

He left the office, making sure to close the door behind him, and walked through the building until he got to the front door. This would be the tricky bit for anyone else what with the constable outside and all, but Griffin wasn't most people. And anyway, he was starting to feel a chill …

"Hm?" the constable outside the gate hummed as the door opened and closed seemingly on its own. "Blimey. 'Oo's there?" He got no response. "Come on, I know I 'eard somebody. 'Oo is it? I've got a pistol, y'know." He didn't notice the spade lifting off the ground behind him. "I'm not muckin' about."

 _CRACK!_

The spade was brought across the back of the constable's head with a sickening _crack_ and a ring of metal. His hat came flying off his head as he tumbled to the ground.

"Oh, God," the constable groaned. "Oh, God, what …?"

 _CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!_

Each sickening crack indicated the impact of a brick hitting the poor man in the head. He stopped grunting in pain after the second, and the sound was joined by a _crunch_ as the third shot spread the constable's brains all over the pavement.

Griffin stripped the dead constable down and put on his clothes without so much as blinking at what he'd just done.

"You're a brutally efficient man, I see, Mr Griffin."

Griffin near jumped out of his skin when the voice spoke up seemingly out of nowhere. He whipped his head around to find the source only to make eye contact with the same pair of golden eyes he'd seen in Moriarty's office minutes before.

"Y-You have me at a disadvantage, sir," Griffin said in an attempt to seem tough.

"Yes, I do," said the gold-eyed man, still not bothering to introduce himself. "But I see you're at a disadvantage, anyway, aren't you, Mr Griffin? Being on a team with a man like Dexter Verser, who **definitely** hates you, can't be a very comforting feeling. Luckily for you, I've got a little something to offer you."

"… All right, sir, you have garnered my interest. How do you propose I deal with Verser?"

The gold-eyed man was suddenly holding a dagger, a dagger that was blacker than anything Griffin has ever seen. "This dagger is made from a little something that'll sort Dexter Verser out if you use it right. You can wound him, you can even kill him if you're quick enough. How about it, Mr Griffin?" He waved the dagger around a bit. "You want this?"

Griffin grinned. He was sure that his invisible eyes were dancing with the unrestrained glee he was feeling. "Yes, I want it. _Aheheh_. I want it **very** much."

The gold-eyed man held it out to him. "Then it's yours to kill Dexter Verser with whenever you see fit."

* * *

 **(Play "London Town" by Miracle of Sound)**

 **Opening Instrumentals**

We are treated to a view of London docks. There is no wind or rain, thus the sea still other than the usual waves.

… But there is one area that is being disturbed …

The _Nautilus_ emerges from beneath the waves, its mass causing quite a stir in the streets.

The camera pans down to the streets, where the workers are all gawking at the huge ship, their skin and clothes black with dirt.

 **Slaves in seas of soot we drown**

 **Come on down to London town**

The _Nautilus_ opens up and out steps Dexter Verser.

 **Susan Dalian**

 **The cogs they creak and pistons pound**

 **Come on down to London town**

Following Dexter out of the ship is Captain Nemo. He glares around at his surroundings bitterly, scowling.

 **Irrfan Khan**

 **Power cloaked in progress**

 **Smoke in Eden's eyes**

The camera cuts to London Bridge where awaiting the two gentlemen, Mina Murray stands, making sure to keep as far away from passers-by as possible. Her red scarf is blown to the side in a sudden gust of wind.

 **Winona Ryder**

 **A million choking chimneys burn**

 **And blacken out the sky**

We are suddenly in Paris, in a small flat. Dr Henry Jekyll has his hands clutched against his face tightly, his face cringing. In the mirror he is facing, Mr Edward Hyde grins out at him maliciously.

 **James Nesbitt**

 **So grab your mates and join us**

 **Where the rats rejoice**

Standing over a dead police officer, Hawley Griffin wears the dead man's clothes and smokes a cigarette he no doubt took from the man's pocket. He is completely invisible but pays no attention to the horrified looks of the people he passes.

 **Claude Rains**

 **The brazen brass of the working class**

 **Are here to find their voice**

In an extravagant office, Professor James Moriarty, otherwise known as "M," sits in a chair behind a desk, looking down at blueprints for an airship. Standing dutifully beside his boss, Campion Bond awaits instruction.

 **With Andrew Scott as Moriarty**

 **and**

 **Ralph Fiennes as Campion Bond**

 **Revolution holds us bound**

 **Come on down to London town**

 **Break your back for class and crown**

 **Come on down to London town**

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen stands atop the _Nautilus_ , Hyde being superimposed over Jekyll, and all of them stare out at the camera. Blue Heart is shown superimposed over Dexter.

 **Guest Starring: Rebecca Riedy**

 **Steam train running on a reckless rail**

 **Speeding right into the rising gale**

The screen fades to black. A pair of golden eyes appear in the blackness and linger for a moment.

 **and**

 **Crispin Freeman**

The screen fades to black completely and fancy white text takes up the screen.

 **The Multiverser of the League**

 **Shovel harder 'cause we're on your tail**

 **London's bloody cry**

 **(End "London Town" by Miracle of Sound)**

* * *

 _ **Dexter Verser's POV**_

* * *

Mina wasn't pleased that Nemo had gone behind her back and sent Griffin off after Bond. Nor was she pleased that I knew and never said anything.

"Captain, Dexter, this is **most** irritating," she said. "I can't believe that you'd send Griffin off upon this harebrained mission without first consulting me. Was it a calculated insult, or merely simple habitual rudeness?" She turned her glare entirely on me, and was it me, or did she look … **hurt**? "From Captain Nemo, I think I could have taken it, but I never expected anything like this from **you** , Dexter."

"I-I, um …" That look on her face hit me hard enough that the stoic demeanour I try to keep up slipped and I stumbled over my words for a moment.

"Madam, please do not take that tone me, aboard my own ship!" Nemo snapped. "It is simply that having provided Mr Bond and his employer with the Cavorite, I find I do not **trust** them."

"But you trust **Griffin** to spy on them?" Mina questioned. "The Invisible Man?"

"Oh, God, no," I said. "I may not trust Bond, but I **loathe** Griffin. If Nemo hadn't already got him hiding around, I'd have tried to figure out some way to do it myself."

Mina held her glare on me for a few moments, then turned to Quatermain. "Did **you** know of this, Mr Quatermain?" she accused.

"Look, don't start on **me**!" said Quatermain. "No, I **didn't** know, but for your information, I think Nemo's idea was the right one and Mr Verser was right to let him go about it. I don't trust Bond, either. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go up on deck!" He started to climb the ladder that would take him to the deck on top of the ship.

"I'll join you," Nemo said, following.

"Oh, how **typical**!" said Mina. "Are you **men** , or little **boys**? You play your games with your **elephant guns** and your **submersible boats** , but one raised voice and you hide like little **children**!" She turned her glare back to me. "I don't suppose you're going to join them up on deck?"

"I hadn't planned on it," I said.

"I-I think you're being rather unfair to them," Jekyll stammered out. "I mean, do **you** trust Bond?"

"Well … of course I don't," Mina admitted. "But that isn't the point! The point is that I'm supposed to be the person organising this … this **menagerie**! But that will **never** do, will it? Because I'm a **woman**! They constantly undermine my authority …"

"I'm not undermining your authority, Mina," I said. "Believe me, that's the last thing I want to do. But I've been in enough of these Leagues to know that everyone will do what they think is best, regardless of what the appointed leader says. It's just best to play the cards that fall into your lap. I hate Invisibitch – I've made it no secret that I've hated him since the second I met him. But the way I see it, so long as he's got a job to be doing, at least he isn't off doing God only knows what to some poor sod. Though to tell you the truth, I would much rather kill him."

"Then why haven't you?" asked Mina. "Come to think of it, why did you not kill him when you had him by the throat earlier? You clearly intended to and have the strength to do so."

"… Because you told me not to." In response to her surprised look, I added, "Don't look so shocked. I do respect your authority and the fact that you think I don't is hurtful. I'm sorry I kept Nemo's plot from you, but with Bond around, I didn't dare talk about it."

Mina's face softened a bit, then she sighed and smiled. "Apology accepted."

"Y-You two are rather adorable together if you don't mind my saying so," said Jekyll. Mina and I both stared at him. "Y-You **are** together, are you not?"

"N-No!" Mina denied, red-faced. "No, not at all!"

"We just work together," I said. "I'd like to consider us friends, but that's as far as it goes, Henry."

"Oh, m-my apologies." He paused. "You just called me Henry."

"Yes, I did. That's all right, isn't it?"

"Y-Yes, of course. Thank you, Mr Verser."

"Please, call me Dexter. I'd like to think we can be friends despite my … less than pleasant introduction to your other half."

"I wouldn't worry about that. Hyde … well, he doesn't react positively to anyone, really."

I noticed Mina smiling at us. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," she waved off. "It's just nice to see a conversation that isn't just a massive argument. It's almost as if we're an **actual** team."

"Y-Yes, I suppose it is at that," said Henry.

"Quickly!" Nemo said suddenly, climbing back down the ladder frantically. He was followed shortly by Quatermain. "We must open the main hatch and let him in before someone **notices** him!" He moved toward the main hatch and started to do just that.

"What?" asked Mina. "What's going on? Who are you talking about? I won't have you keeping me in the **dark** about everything!"

"Oh, for God's **sake** , woman!" said Quatermain. "Must you turn **everything** into a shouting match? It's **Griffin**! We have to let him in before anyone sees him!"

" **Sees** him?" Mina asked in confusion. " **Griffin**? Well, forgive me if I'm being **dense** , Mr Quatermain, but isn't that rather a contradiction in …" the hatch opened and in walked Griffin in a constable's uniform, "… terms?"

Nemo immediately grabbed the front of Griffin's coat and pulled him in. "Griffin, you **madman**! What's the meaning of this? What is the reason for this policeman's costume?"

"I was **cold** ," Griffin argued. "It's getting rather chilly out there, you know. Besides, I've heard that ladies find the uniform quite irresistible. Don't you agree, Miss Murray?"

"He's harmed someone," Mina said, eyeing Griffin's clothes uncomfortably. "He's hurt a **constable** …"

"I can't say I'm surprised," I said grimly, glaring at Griffin. "Did you kill him?"

"'Oh, heavens, he's harmed a poor policeman'!" Griffin mocked, throwing his arms into the air in faux despair. "Well, forgive me, I'd rather thought we were a covert **military** unit, but it seems we are instead a **knitting circle**!"

You haven't got the slightest **idea** how tempted I was to just kill him. No, it wasn't just temptation, I **wanted** to kill him. It wasn't a common occurrence, having to work with somebody this disgusting, this sadistic, this abhorrent a human being, and every moment I spent with Griffin made me glad of the fact. But I knew I had to keep him alive at the very least until he made his deal with the Molluscs. I had no intention of letting him hurt Mina, though – the day the attack on her came would be the day I ripped this invisible bastard's fucking **spine** out.

"Griffin, you were sent to find out about Bond and his superiors!" said Quatermain. "Did you **learn** anything, or just go on a **murder** spree?"

"Oh, I think I did rather well," said Griffin. "I trailed Bond and sat in while he reported to his superior."

"Was it Mycroft Holmes?" asked Mina.

"No. The chap's Christian name seems to be James. Tall, thin chap with eyes like a lizard. Very prominent brow …"

"Hmm. Pray continue."

Griffin lit a cigarette before he started speaking again. "Well, they reminisced about a waterfall in Switzerland for a while. Something about a fight with a policeman or detective … Rather dull, really. Anyway, it seems this 'James' fellow leads a double life: He's head of intelligence **and** a west-end criminal mastermind to boot!"

"That's preposterous!" said Quatermain.

"Isn't it?" Griffin seemed downright giddy to be reporting all this. "What's even more amusing is that the retrieved Cavorite will be made a weapon in his war against the Chinaman."

"But …" said Mina, "… the lunar **expedition** we were told …"

"We were told **lies** ," said Griffin. "He spoke of a 'war chariot' and 'raids' starting tonight."

"Raids?" asked Quatermain.

"Yes," said Griffin. "Some sort of **aerial** raid, I imagine, directed at Limehouse. Though …" He seemed to hesitate.

"What?" I asked.

"It … it may well be more than just Limehouse in danger. There was another chap hidden in the shadows, just sort of appeared there and disappeared afterwards. It was most odd. He said something about London being 'wiped off the map.' Advised Bond to get out of the city as quickly as he could manage."

I feeling of dread settled in my stomach. That didn't happen in the comic … and it did **not** sound good.

"W-We've been used …" said Mina.

"But …" said Quatermain. "Look, this doesn't make **sense** …"

"Yes it does," said Nemo.

"You've figured it out, too, then?" I asked.

Nemo nodded. "Moriarty?"

"Moriarty."

Nemo sighed. "My friends, the man we have been working for is one James Moriarty, sometimes known as the Napoleon of Crime … and I'm afraid he plans to bomb London."

" **Moriarty**?" Mina asked in shock. "You mean **Professor** Moriarty, the arch-enemy of Sherlock Holmes? But … but he's dead. They **both** are."

"Evidently not," I said. "Granted, **I** could have told you Sherlock is alive and well, I just didn't think it was relevant. It would seem that both survived and both think the other is dead."

"But London may **not** survive," said Nemo.

"Then … he had us retrieve the Cavorite from Fu Manchu to use in his **own** warship," said Mina.

"Aerial warfare," Quatermain said grimly. "There's no defence against it …"

"On the contrary," I said. "There's us."

"And I may have something here on the _Nautilus_ that could be of some use," said Nemo.

"Better we prevent him from getting airborne in the first place …" said Quatermain.

"Agreed," said Mina. "Where is this 'war-chariot' kept?"

"Well, they mentioned the Battersea fun-fair …" said Griffin.

"I'll head there right away," said Quatermain. "I'll hail a cab …"

"Dexter and I will come with you," said Mina. "The Captain can stay here and work on his contingency plan. I just pray to God that we're not too late …"

* * *

"Why?" Mina asked, frustrated, as we walked along the pavement, looking for somewhere we might find a cab. "Why didn't I realise? Now all of London's to have horror rained upon it. All because of my ridiculous female naivete!"

"Careful, Mina, your 19th Century is showing," I said. "You being a woman has nothing to do with it. No, nobody trusted Bond, but there was never any indication that London was in danger from anyone other than Fu Manchu. You can't blame yourself for not knowing something you couldn't possibly have known."

Mina nodded. "Yes, you're right, I'm sorry. I still can't believe we're facing Professor **Moriarty**."

"We must believe it," said Quatermain. "This whole affair is part of a war between Professor and Doctor; between London's east and its west." An empty cap turned the corner and headed toward us. "I say there! Cabby!" The driver pulled the horses pulling the cab to a stop just by us. "Take us to Battersea, and the amusements!"

"Right you are, sir," said the cabby. "Can't be beat, sir, can it, when you're stepping out with a couple of young ladies? All the thrill of the fair …"

"A couple of …?" Quatermain started to ask, then he seemed to realise. "Oh! No, no, no, he isn't—"

"Just leave it," I said, opening up the cab and climbing inside. "It's nothing new. Come on, we've got something more important to be getting to."

* * *

 _ **Third Person POV**_

* * *

Having spent the time since a couple of minutes before Dexter, Mina, and Quatermain left searching for something in his ship, Captain Nemo seemed to be getting frustrated. "I know I had the damnable thing stored around here **somewhere** ," he growled in frustration.

"I've just realised something," said Jekyll. "Moriarty plans to wipe out London. Well, we're **in** London …"

"You just noticed?" Griffin asked with a biting tone. "Are you sure you're a doctor? Your brain seems awfully dulled for that sort of profession."

"That's not what I mean. I mean, Moriarty **knows** we're here, doesn't he?"

"Well … yes. I suppose he does. What are you suggesting?" Griffin had a feeling he knew, but he didn't want to think the gold-eyed chap who gave him a way to deal with Verser would let him walk right into that sort of situation.

"Well, isn't it obvious?" asked Jekyll. "He's hoping **we'll** be killed, as well. All potential witnesses removed at a stroke. My God, it's all so **calculated** …"

The dread in Griffin's stomach bloomed into full-blown panic as the words he feared left Jekyll's mouth. "I-I hadn't thought of that," he said. "Nemo, can't you take the _Nautilus_ up the estuary and out to sea?"

"No need," said Nemo. "I've found what I was searching for. Tonight, gentlemen … tonight, London shall witness war in heaven."

Griffin didn't much care about "war in heaven" at the moment. He was **livid**. The gold-eyed son of a bitch had plenty of opportunities to tell him that the hope was for the League to get caught up in everything when it went straight to hell, yet he had said nothing. Hell, the man had encouraged him to act as though everything was normal, to tell the League everything he had heard without leaving out a detail (except for the dagger, obviously). He had sent Griffin off knowing there was a chance he would die during all this!

Griffin looked down at the pocket he had kept the dagger in. He suddenly had a strong urge to take the thing and throw it out to sea … but he wouldn't. As much as the gold-eyed man had pissed him off, he would not give up the only advantage he had over Verser.

It was only a matter of time before an opportunity to use it would present itself.

* * *

 _ **Dexter Verser's POV**_

* * *

The cab was moving very slowly, to the point where it was just barely moving at all. There were people outside, I could see through the windows, all gawping up into the night sky in amazement. I knew that they were looking at Moriarty's airship. I couldn't see it myself just yet, but I **could** see the green light shining down on London from where the Cavorite was being allowed to propel the ship upwards.

"We shall never get to Battersea at this rate!" Mina complained. "Oh, whatever is the matter now? The coach seems to be stopping …"

"Well, I'm not an expert, but I **think** it'd be bad form to ram the cab through all these people," I said. "Especially with these horses pulling it. I doubt people'll appreciate having hoofprints stomped all over them."

"Driver?" asked Quatermain. "I say, fellow, what's all the delay?"

"I'm sorry, sir," said the cabby. "I'll have to let you and the ladies off. The traffic seems to be blocked up all Cheapside to St. Paul's, for some blessed reason."

"Well, really!" Quatermain said, getting out of the cab. Mina and I followed. "This is too bad!"

"He's right," Mina said, looking around the crowded road. "The streets are **teeming**! Whatever's going on?"

"I think it might have something to do with that," I said, pointing at the black thing flying through the night sky.

 **(Play "Dishonoured Dead" by Randy Dominguez)**

I had to give Moriarty credit, it was a very nicely-designed ship. It was a great behemoth of black metal with a bat motif. It was shaped like a blimp, with a bat-shaped construct on the top that looked as though it was carrying the rest of the machine. It was actually rather creative. There were little windows all along it with light shining from within. The main reason the ship was fully visible to everyone this late at night, however, was the green beam of light projecting out through a massive round hole right at the bottom, which was the excess Cavorite energy helping to keep the ship in the air.

"I think we definitely have a problem," said Quatermain.

 **(End "Dishonoured Dead" by Randy Dominguez)**

* * *

 _ **Third Person POV**_

* * *

On the bridge of the airship, Moriarty was singing.

" _Twinkle, twinkle, little star,_

" _How I wonder what you are?_

" _Up above the world so high … like a diamond in the sky._

 **(Play "Resurrection" by Shades of the Abyss)**

"A diamond in the sky. Do you know, sergeant, I almost fancy that I **love** this Cavorite. This wonderful, celestial material … It's given me the **sky** , this element that I was surely **born** for!" Moriarty threw his hands into the air in reverence as Sergeant Moran stood, silent, awaiting his orders. "Ah, Sergeant, does your soul thrill as mine does to these seas of cloud, to this **God-like** perspective? To this God-like **power**?"

Moriarty walked over to the railing and looked down on London. "Look at it down there. London. Just **look** at it. The Thames a marvellous piddle-stream of silver 'neath the August moon. Those huddled lights, those countless tiny lives. The poor-but-honest folk of Spitalfields, of Hackney, Shoreditch, Wapping … Limehouse. Oh, I simply cannot bring myself to destroy such a city in one fell swoop as my new ally advised me to. I'll not be satisfied until I see it all **burning**. Sergeant … commence the pyro-explosive bombardment."

 **(End "Resurrection" by Shades of the Abyss)**

* * *

 _ **Dexter Verser's POV**_

* * *

 _BOOM!_

The first of the bombs exploding soured what little of my good mood remained, though I found myself grateful that whatever they had which would "wipe London off the map" wasn't being used yet, though I had a feeling we would have to be quick if we were going to stop it from being let loose. Yet even with that small comfort in mind, the sight of the yellow-orange smoke rising from behind the rows of buildings set me on edge. We were going to have to hurry if we were to avoid an obituary that would take up the entire newspaper.

"Oh dear God!" Mina exclaimed. "This is horrible!"

"Yes," Quatermain agreed. "We have to get back to the _Nautilus_."

"I couldn't agree more," I said grimly. "And we'll want to get back there quickly. Tell me, how do you two feel about flying?"

"After being blasted through the Thames by that Cavorite, not very fondly," said Quatermain.

"Besides, how do you propo—"

I cut Mina off by grabbing the shoulder of the boy who had just brushed past her. "Purse," I said, holding a hand out in front of him. "Now."

He looked up at me and gulped, then put Mina's purse in my hand.

I handed it back to Mina, smiled at the kid, and then put a bag of money in his hand. "There you go, lad," I said. "Make sure you share it with the other kids, okay?"

"Yuss, sir!" he said with a grin on his face. "Thank you, sir!" He turned to look at the old man who stood near us. "Look, Mr Dodger, this gentleman's just 'anded me some dough!"

"I can see that, lad," said the Artful Dodger of _Oliver Twist_. He was an old man now. He looked at me, then his eyes and mouth opened wide. "By God … you're that bloke what did away with Bill Sykes when I was but a tot!"

"Yep, that'll be me," I said, smiling. "It was very nice to see you again, Dodger, but I'm afraid I'm in a bit of a hurry. You keep taking care of those kids, you hear?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

"Good man." I looked at Mina and Quatermain. "Now then, about flying …"

"Again, how do you propose we …?"

The black and red Dragon wings sprouting from my back startled her into silence. I grabbed her and Quatermain by an arm each. "Try not to scream," I said. "We're going to be moving pretty quickly, and I'd hate for you to choke on the air."

I started flapping my wings and took to the air before either of them had a chance to respond. There were several startled yells and gasps from below, as well as cries of "Demon!" (which weren't **entirely** inaccurate), as my sudden growing of wings and subsequent flight took all the civilians surrounding us by surprise. In the air, Mina started clinging to me for dear life out of shock, and Quatermain yelled obscenities for the first few minutes.

 _I did warn him not to scream, but okay,_ I thought, rolling my eyes.

A few minutes later, we landed just by the _Nautilus_. I don't think Quatermain felt he could get away from me quick enough.

"Don't **ever** do that again!" he yelled at me. "Good **God** , man, you near enough gave me a heart attack!"

"Don't exaggerate," I said. I noticed that there was still a weight on my left arm. Mina was still clinging to it with her eyes closed. "Mina, you can let go now. We've landed."

"Oh, thank God …" she said, releasing her grip on me and opening her eyes. "Some warning would be appreciated if you ever attempt such a thing again, sir."

"Noted."

The sound of Nemo laughing drew our attention to his presence. "It's just like you to make such a dramatic entrance," he said to me. "Just in time, too. We're about ready to go."

"Go?" asked Mina. She looked past Nemo. "My God! What on Earth is **that**?"

"Hold her fast, Mr Mate!" Nemo ordered his first mate, Ishmael. "She was bequeathed to me by a Dr Ferguson of my acquaintance. Her name is _Victoria_."

Sitting on the docks, right by where the _Nautilus_ was, was a hot-air balloon. Specifically, the balloon _Victoria_ from Jules Verne's _Five Weeks in a Balloon_. Henry and the still-clothed Griffin were already stood in the balloon, waiting for the time when we would leave to invade Moriarty's airship.

"She's … she's **incredible** ," said Mina. "But surely, you don't propose we …"

"Yes, madam," said Nemo. "If you, Dexter, and Mr Quatermain would board, that is **exactly** what I propose. Mr Mate? You're in command while we're gone."

 _BOOM!_

Another bomb fell. The smoke was now starting to block out the view of the sky. Luckily, it still seemed like it hadn't spread from the east end.

"Th-That bombing must be nearing Limehouse …" Henry said nervously.

"We need to hurry," I said. "Everyone in the fucking balloon!"

Nemo, Mina, and Quatermain got into the balloon. Then I, with my wings still out, grabbed onto one of the ropes attaching it to the dock. I nodded at Ishmael, who nodded back – I liked Ishmael; you may know him as the main character of _Moby Dick_ – and untied the end of the rope attached to the docks. The balloon took to the air and I started to pull it in the direction of Moriarty's ship. I knew for a fact that the wind was just right for it to carry _Victoria_ there, but we were in a hurry, so I thought I'd speed things along a bit.

 _BANG!_

That one wasn't a bomb. It came from Limehouse. Looking, I saw that it was a massive cannon pointing toward the sky. There were Chinamen gliding through the air with gliders, too. It looked like Fu Manchu was taking their little war to Moriarty.

 _A battle in the skies over London,_ I mused. _I won't lie, that's still pretty awesome._

"Dear God, look at that," Quatermain said, observing the chaos unfolding around us. "Fu Manchu has war-kites and an aerial cannon. Can London survive this?"

"Perhaps …" said Nemo. "Although from all I've read it is a city that is very vulnerable to fires. We shall attempt to bring down Professor Moriarty's airship. That is all we can do."

" _Aheh_ ," Griffin laughed. "And that's your plan? An unarmed **balloon** against **that** thing? Now I see how you chaps did so well in your Indian mutiny …"

"Shut up, Griffin," Quatermain said at the same time as I said, "Shut up, Invisibitch."

"… Although he has a point, Nemo," Quatermain added. "Nemo, that airboat's armed to the **teeth**."

"Those sorts of odds have never stopped me before," I said.

"Indeed," Nemo agreed. "And it's not like I came unprepared. I have here service revolvers for Mr Griffin, Dr Jekyll, and Miss Murray. For you and I, Quatermain, there are mechanical harpoon guns of my own device …"

"I … I don't think **Edward** will require a firearm," said Henry. "Th-That is, he's too big to need one. At least, he is these days. Do you know, I was once **taller** than he was?"

"You can tell us the story over dinner, Dr Jekyll," I said. "I don't suppose any of you would mind a little get-together after all this is over and done with? Hell, I might even let Griffin in on it."

"I'm delighted," Griffin said dryly.

"That all sounds very well and good, Dexter," said Mina. "But as you've no doubt noticed since you're pulling us along, we are approaching the airship."

"Nemo," said Quatermain, "this harpoon thing, it's **extraordinary**. How do I fire it?"

"Simply keep the trigger mechanism depressed and it will fire itself," said Nemo. "There are one hundred bolts upon each ammunition belt. Don't fire them all in the first minute."

I landed on the outer-rim about halfway up the airship and tied the rope on _Victoria_ to a bit of railing. Everyone started climbing out of the balloon.

"Quickly!" Nemo said as everyone moved. "We must board before we are noticed! I do not doubt that this vessel swarms with the professor's agents …"

"Thank you, doctor, but I can manage perfectly well by myself," Mina said in response to Henry trying to help her off the ship.

"Y-Yes, of course," said Henry. "I do apologise."

"I can hear fighting going on up ahead," said Quatermain.

"I hear it, too," I said. "Sounds like Manchu's men beat us here even with me pulling us along. Can't be helped, I suppose. Still, that means this is going to be a lot messier than I'd like … I suppose it would be a waste of time to ask that you wound rather than kill as much as possible?"

"What would be the point?" asked Griffin. "We're going to crash this awful thing, aren't we?"

"On the contrary, Griffin." I threw a cocky grin at The Invisible Man. "I intend to **land** it."

"… You know what?" asked Quatermain. "I've seen Mr Verser do enough utterly insane things these last few days that I honestly believe he can do it."

"Glad to see you've got faith in me."

Quatermain and Nemo went ahead and look into the ship through one of the many windows that were scattered around.

"They're too busy fighting to notice us," said Quatermain.

"We need to find whatever controls this sky-ship if Dexter is to land it safely," said Nemo.

 _SMACK!_

"Come on, Jekyll," Mina said after slapping Henry in the face. "It's **time**. We **need** you."

" **Ow**!" Henry said, wincing. "Please, don't …"

I wasn't very fond of letting Mina hit Henry like that, and I would likely tell her so later … but we needed Hyde for this, and the only way to bring him out was to stress Henry out, so I stayed my hand.

" _Heheh_ ," Griffin sounded that little verbal tick of his. "You know, once we have the Cavorite, we could **sell** it."

"Is money-making another 'lower urge' of yours, Griffin?" I asked him.

"Come **on** , you damned coward!" Mina snapped at Henry. "Do you call yourself a man?"

Henry let out a distressed yell. " **Stop** it! Miss Murray, please, I … I …" Henry released a low, guttural growl as he started to grow and his clothes started to rip. His now significantly larger hand grabbed the hand Mina had been about to slap him again with. " **Urrrnnghhh** … I told you … **Hrrrnnhhhh** …" Hyde glared down at Mina as he gripped her arm tightly. " **I told you to STOP IT!** "

" **Hyde**!" Quatermain shouted. "Hyde, let her **go**! I'm warning you …"

"That will not be necessary, Mr Quatermain," Mina said calmly. She levelled Hyde with a glare. "My Hyde, you are hurting my hand, sir, and I will not allow that. I should be grateful if you would release me."

There was a tense silence. The sounds of battle from within the airship seemed to not exist. Everyone – especially Hyde – was surprised to see Mina tell him to release her so calmly. Hyde stared her down for a few moment … and then calmly released her hand from his grip.

"Thank you." Mina started walking, and we followed. "Now, I suggest we head back this way and attempt to locate some ingress to the vessel. I imagine the Cavorite will be within …"

" **Fighting** , eh?" said Griffin. " _Aheheh_. Then I'm getting undressed."

"Just don't try to cut and run, or I **will** shoot you," I said.

We came across a metal door. Mina tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. "Dash it!" she said. "It's locked from the inside!"

" **Hurrgh** ," Hyde grunted in annoyance. "Well, what did you expect? **I'll** see to it if you'll get out of my bloody, pissing **way** … please."

Mina did so.

 _CRASH!_

Hyde punched against the door so hard that it went flying to the inside of the airship along with a rather large chunk of the wall. I'm pretty sure several people were hit by it, but it was impossible to tell, the inside was such a bloodbath already. Fu Manchu's men and Moriarty's men were brutally massacring each other. Well, they **were**. The second that door went flying through them, everyone's attention turned to us. There was no moment of silence or pin drop – they started charging immediately.

Hyde roared at them.

"Everybody get **down** ," said Nemo, who then fired his machine gun (he called it a mechanical harpoon gun, but other than the form of ammunition, it was just a machine gun) into the charging crowd. Blood and bits of bone and flesh flew from man to man as our adversaries were rapidly brought down. "Come **forward**! Come forward, men of England! Tell the gods that Nemo sent you!"

"Where's Griffin?" asked Quatermain.

"Probably cutting and running," I said. "Just like I told him **not** to."

"Who **cares**?" asked Hyde. "We don't need Griffin! Just leave these scuttling little blood bags to me and the darky!"

Nemo's massacre of the men created a gap, and through that gap, I caught a brief glimpse of something that left a pit in my stomach. Suddenly, I knew exactly what "wipe London off the map" meant. It looked like a small rocket and was gunmetal grey in colour. That in itself made it look like just a missile, which while not making any sense in 1898, wouldn't have been much worse than the bombs already being dropped on the city down below. No … The thing that made me sweat looking at it was the yellow circle with the three black semi-rectangles connected at the centre by a black circle with a yellow outline.

It was a nuke.

"As much as I'd **love** to leave all the bloodshed you the two of you," I said, "that's not really an option anymore. Nemo! Try to avoid shooting at that thing!" I pointed past the men and at the nuke. "You hit that, you'll not only kill everyone on this ship but an absolute fuckload of people down below, too! I'm going to need to work my way over and deactivate it … Shit, disarming explosives isn't my thing …" I groaned. "I suppose I'll just have to improvise. You can fire that gun, right, Mina?"

"I … I must confess, I've never used one before, so I don't know," she said.

"Okay … then I suppose just pointing and shooting will have to do." I looked at Quatermain. "You two, come with me. I could take out all these bastards if I had to, but I'll be busy disarming that bomb. You two are going to cover me and make sure no fucker gets in the way. We'll deal with Moriarty later."

"I'll follow your lead," Quatermain said with conviction.

"I shall do what I can to help," said Mina.

 **(Play "Czar" by Jo Blankenburg)**

"Good." I lowered my mask over my face and pulled my revolvers from their holsters at my hips. "Let's get to it, then."

As Nemo reloaded his machine gun, I ran past him and took aim with my revolver. I landed a head-shot on one of Moriarty's men, who was aiming his own revolver at me; it clanged to the floor less than a second before his body hit the ground.

I took aim at one of Manchu's men, who was charging at me with a cutlass … only to not get a chance to shoot him because Hyde leapt over, landed on him, and ripped his arms off in a bloody mess.

Hearing some footsteps rapidly approaching me, I whipped around and shot one of Manchu's men right between his eyes. He seemed to almost do a back flip as the sudden pushback of his head conflicted with the momentum of the rest of his body moving forwards.

A bullet ripped through one man's ear. I finished him off with one to the forehead.

 _Well, her aim isn't **good** , but at least she's hitting **something** , _I thought in regards to Mina's aim.

Another round of machine gun fire turned another torrent of enemies in front of us into bloody paste. This time it came from Quatermain.

Feeling slightly sick with myself, I leapt over the mounting pile of corpses and delivered a kick to a charging man's face, knocking him flying back and into a small group of others, who all fell down. For a small moment, I hoped they would be down for long enough that I could just move past without having to bother with them again … but then Hyde jumped over my head and landed on them, so it was safe to say they'd be nothing but a pile of bloody bits in a few seconds.

Another man charged toward me, yelling, so I lifted my revolver without so much as glancing in his direction and pulled the trigger. The bullet went into his mouth and exploded out through the back of his head.

A bullet flew into a man's chest and knocked him away, exploding his ribcage.

"Getting better, Mina!" I congratulated.

It really didn't take very long at all before I got to the nuke. The weight of every life taken along the way hit me like a truck – something that wouldn't have happened a few years ago – but I had reached the nuke and could now attempt to disarm it. My breathing was slightly heavy as I gingerly raised my hands to it, unsure. I have a basic understanding of explosives, but they aren't exactly a speciality of mine. One of the others ( **NOT MIKE!** ) would have been better for this, but they weren't here; I was.

I searched for a panel on the side – it wasn't hard to find. I opened it up and found a number of buttons, dials, wires, and lights. My nervousness increased tenfold. The odds were that all but one of these would just set the damn thing off, knowing my luck.

"It's okay, Dex," I muttered to myself nervously. This sort of behaviour is why I try not to show my emotions openly. "It's just a, uh … it's just like a video game. Yeah, just one big, explodey video game. Just … just cut a wire. The worst that could happen is … uh … everyone in London could end up dead … so just do it and get it over with. Yeah … **fuck.** "

I licked my lips anxiously.

I lifted a hand and moved it inside the open panel …

… and then I remembered something Benedict Cumberbatch had once said in _Sherlock_ series three.

" _There's always an off switch."_

 _An off switch,_ I thought, a nervous, but less nervous, smile working its way onto my face. _Okay, I can work with that. I know that was just for a regular bomb, but it makes sense – don't want something as big as a nuke going off in the wrong place. Let's just … have a look and see if we can find it …_

It helped that my mental roommates started encouraging me.

{You've got this, Dexter} said Rick Grimes.

{Go for it, Dex} said Michael Thorton.

{You can do it, dude} said Issei Hyoudou.

{You think you can't do this? Please, bitch, get real! You're me, so you must be smarter than that!} said Kazuto Kirigaya. (Yes, the Abridged version.)

{Ka decides all. Do what you can and let it work its will} said Roland Deschain.

 _Thanks, guys,_ I thought to them before the rest could chip in and waste too much time. _All right … here I go …_

As I pressed my finger against one of the many switches in the nuke – a little red one near the end – I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes as I waited for what I thought would be an inevitable fuck-up.

I flipped the switch.

Nothing happened.

I opened my eyes and saw that all the lights that were on inside the panel had all switched off.

 **(End "Czar" by Jo Blankenburg)**

" _ **YES!**_ " I yelled at the top of my lungs in triumph. "Oh, yeah, who's the fucking **boss** , assholes!?"

"I, uh, assume you were successful, then?" asked Quatermain.

"You can bet your sorry old ass I was!" I said. Then I realised what I was doing, went red, and cleared my throat. "I-I'm sorry, that was rude. But yes, yes, I was successful. Now, who wants to go and say hello to Professor Moriarty?"

I didn't wait for a response as I stalked off toward the ladder that would take us up to the deck of the ship. Then I stopped suddenly.

"Where's Mina?" I asked.

Quatermain seemed to only just notice her absence, too. "I … I don't know," he said, confused.

Then it hit me. "She thought she could …" I didn't finish the thought out loud. _She thought she could reason with him,_ I remembered from canon. "Oh, fuck." Then I took off in a run.

"P-Professor Moriarty," I heard Mina's voice from above when I reached the ladder that would take me to the deck, "I have the greatest respect for you as a mathematician. I-I had hoped I might convince …"

"Yes, yes, yes …" said Moriarty's dismissive voice. "Sergeant? Throw this smelly little lesbian over the side."

 _BLAM!_

One shot from my revolver sent Sergeant Moran's brains flying out through the back of his head.

 _BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!_

The other four men up there got the same treatment.

"You'll forgive me, Professor Moriarty," I said dangerously, "if I don't think words like that are the proper way to address a lady."

 _BLAM! BLAM!_

Moriarty cried out in pain as I sent a shot into each of his kneecaps. Unperturbed by the man's screaming, I walked over to him and knelt down.

"You've lost, Professor," I said coldly. "That little party gift you were going to destroy London with is switched off. Though I am curious about where you got it. Care to share?"

"F-Fuck off!" he growled at me.

I stood up and drove one of my feet into his bleeding knee. He cried out in pain.

"I'm already planning on killing you, but there's still time to hurt you. And believe me, I can **really** hurt you if I put my mind to it. I'm not as good with torture as some of my colleagues – I have no doubt that Alexis would have you **begging** to give up the information in seconds – but I know how to break you in my own way. And you know what? I haven't even started yet. Do you want to tell me what I want before we get started?"

"I'm telling you **nothing** ," Moriarty growled out through gritted teeth.

I sighed and knelt down by him again. "Fair enough." I put my hand to his head. "See your failures, 'Napoleon of Crime.' See them very well."

And then I sent images through his head.

It was Sherlock Holmes. He was down in Sussex, alive and well. He was wearing all white with a net-like mask over his head, but his face was visible through it. He was going through a large white box in a field of large white boxes, carefully scooping honey out so that he didn't hurt the insects that made it. Beekeeping. Sherlock Holmes was living peacefully out in Sussex as a beekeeper, and I was showing Professor James Moriarty proof that he had even failed at bringing an end to his greatest enemy.

" **No** ," Moriarty said in a weak voice. "No, no, no, no, no …"

"Do you see?" I asked calmly. "Do you see your greatest failure in front of you?"

"Lies! It's all lies!"

"Is it? Come on, Moriarty, stop kidding yourself. Just accept that you failed."

"No …"

"Do you want it to stop?"

"Yes …"

"Then **tell me what I want to know!** "

"He …" Moriarty hesitated. "… I never saw his face … He always kept to the shadows, made sure to keep hidden … but he knew you. Said he'd 'deal' with you, get you out of the way …"

"Well, that worked out well, didn't it?" I took my hand away from his head and stopped the images. I stood up and took out my revolver. "Anything you want to say before you go?"

"… Just get on with it, you **swine** ," he growled at me.

"As you wish."

 _BLAM!_

Moriarty's blood, skull, and brain-matter painted the deck of his airship.

"All right," I said, holstering my revolver. "Now to figure out how to steer this thing."

As it turned out, it was relatively simple. There was an old-style wheel which I deduced was for steering the ship. I took the wheel and turned it to the left. With the deaths of all the men down below, the bombs had stopped falling. I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face as all the destruction came to an end and I flew the airship away from London and out to the English countryside.

"Someone do me a favour," I said. "Can one of you **gradually** close the Cavorite container? If we slowly close it up, we'll probably land rather than crashing."

"I'll do it," said Mina.

A few minutes later, we had made a textbook landing just outside London.

We had done it.

The city was saved.

Quatermain, Mina, and I went back down to the bowels of the airship and met up with Nemo and Hyde.

"It's done," I told them. "We can go now."

"Then we shall take _Victoria_ ," Nemo said.

"Will Hyde even fit?" asked Quatermain.

"He'll fit, but he'll probably weigh it down," I said. I glanced at Hyde. "I don't suppose it's too much to ask for Henry back?"

Hyde glared at me for a few seconds. " **Fine** ," he grunted, displeased. "But don't expect me to change back at your beck and call every damn time you're in a pickle, ladyboy."

"That's perfectly fair."

Hyde closed his eyes for a moment, grunted, then started to shrink. His skin returned to the pale colour, his teeth unsharpened, and his claws returned to nails. Henry stumbled a bit as he rejoined us, but managed to keep his balance. He had to hold up his trousers so they wouldn't fall off, them having been ripped and stretched to the point where they no longer fit properly.

"Shall we go, then, gentlemen?" Mina asked.

"Yes, I think we'd best," said Quatermain.

We all walked out to where _Victoria_ was tethered to the ship … and there was a machete floating next to the rope, about to cut into it.

" _Aheheh_." Griffin's laugh came out awkward and nervous. "I, ahh … I didn't think you were coming back."

I jumped into the basket. "Griffin, would you do me a favour and bugger off?" I asked, then punched him in the face. He landed on his piled clothes on the floor, so it can't have been that hard a landing.

 _Pity,_ I thought. _Wait, why did he go to the trouble of bringing his clothes back on board …? Eh, maybe he just thought he'd get cold. I don't give a shit._

And with that, we took _Victoria_ back to London.

* * *

We were back in the British Museum sometime later being faced by the new M., Mycroft Holmes. He was a very fat fellow, to say the least, and balding on the top of his head with sharp blue eyes. Griffin was dressed in a suit, hat, and a pair of glasses, and Henry was back in his black and white suit.

"Well done," Mycroft said without feeling. "You've done me rather a good turn. With Moriarty's death, I become head of intelligence. This situation benefits both myself and certain other parties, who shall never know of its intricacies."

"Ah," Mina said awkwardly. "You're referring to your late brother. A tragic loss."

Mycroft made a "Mm" sound, uncaring. "Regarding the six of you, it would suit me if you might remain here at England's call. A significant retainer would, of course, be provided. I believe we could double my predecessor's offer."

"Bloody hell …" said Quatermain.

"Th-That would, of course, be very generous and most acceptable," said Mina. "Might I ask of what's become of Mr Bond?"

"Nothing," said Mycroft. "It is often useful to have employees one **knows** to be treacherous."

"I'm not sure that's wise," I said. "If he betrayed us once, he'll betray us again. Surely you realise this? And to leave him unpunished, it's … well, it's not exactly doing much justice, is it?"

"I don't believe you have any say in who I appoint as my underlings, Mr Verser. Now, gentlemen, Miss Murray, I must bid you all adieu." He walked off.

 _Oh, I'll have a say, you fat little toad,_ I thought angrily.

" _Aheh_. Well, that solves the mystery of the detective's disappearance," said Griffin. "His brother ate him."

A laugh slipped out from my lips before I could stop it. "All right, Griffin, I'll give you that one. That was actually pretty funny."

"He's paying us an awful lot of money to sit about doing nothing," Quatermain pointed out.

"We'll see," said Mina. "These are tumultuous times, Mr Quatermain … I'm sure something will turn up."

We all stood in silence for a few moments.

"So …" I said after an awkward pause, "… dinner?"

* * *

 **(Play "Stone" by Ninja Tracks)**

 **THE MULTIVERSER OF THE LEAGUE**

…

…

…

…

…

 **Written by:**

 **Anime PJ**

…

 **Starring:**

 **Dexter Verser**

…

 **Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray**

…

 **Captain Nemo**

…

 **Allan Quatermain**

…

 **Dr Henry Jekyll/Mr Edward Hyde**

…

 **Hawley Griffin/The Invisible Man**

…

 **Co-Starring:**

 **Campion Bond**

…

 **Auguste Dupin**

…

 **Blue Heart**

…

 **Rosa Coote**

…

 **Quong Lee**

…

 **Shen Yan/Shanghai Charlie**

…

 **Fu Manchu/The Doctor**

…

 **M./Professor James Moriarty**

…

 **The Gold-Eyed Man**

…

 **M./Mycroft Holmes**

…

 **Special Guest Appearances:**

 **Sherlock Holmes**

…

 **(End "Stone" by Ninja Tracks)**

* * *

 **Well, that's the first arc over and done with, folks! And there are no awful translations in this chapter! I'd say that's an accomplishment, wouldn't you? XD**

 **There'll be a little filler chapter in between this and the second arc just to let things cool down a bit, so I hope you don't mind that sort of thing. The next arc will be a lot more exciting, as those of you who read the comic will no doubt know, what with the Mollusc invasion of Earth and all. I also plan on having one of the other Multiversers join me in the next arc – I won't tell you who, though, as I don't know myself at this point.**

 **Now, before I go, I'll answer the reviews from last time.**

 **Dis Lexic:** You really should, it's a great comic. Since I already PMd you all that, I won't put it here, but still, good luck with it.

 **ZenithBloodedge:** Actually, you'd be surprised. _The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen_ takes place in a world where all of our fiction is their reality. The fact that _Bloodborne_ seems to be heavily inspired by Victorian London is why Dexter didn't really react other than his initial confusion. Granted, you're right in thinking it didn't get there on its own, but the logic of this universe dictates that it actually _could_.

 **Well, I hope you all enjoyed this, and I'll see you next time.**


	4. Dinner at Dexter's Estate

**Welcome back! As you'll be able to tell from the new opening, a couple of the other Multiversers are being introduced during this arc. I'll introduce the first of my two co-authors at the end of this chapter, but suffice it to say, things are going to get intense! It'll primarily be in the third person from now on as a result of other Multiversers being present, but I'll likely have some flashbacks later on to stuff that Dexter did in the past in this world that'll go back to first person. Just so you know.**

 **Word of warning: there are THREE lemons in this chapter. Wasn't the original intention, though I suppose the fact that two was the original intention probably makes that a moot point.**

 **I hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

 _ **Voice Cast (how I envision characters being voiced)**_

 _ **Alexis Verser = Susan Egan (think Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond from**_ **Steven Universe _)_**

* * *

 **BGMs**

 **London Town – Miracle of Sound**

* * *

 **Arc Two: People of Other Lands**

* * *

 **Chapter Four: Dinner at Dexter's Estate**

* * *

 _ **Third Person POV**_

* * *

 _I miss cars,_ Dexter thought absently as he guided the horses at the front of the coach.

It was not like he did not use future technology around these people. Indeed, he quite enjoyed watching the looks on people's faces whenever he pulled out something that would not exist for another century or so. But when it came to transport, he liked to avoid that sort of thing, as it was far too conspicuous. Though he thought he might make an exception when the invasion started if there was need of such things.

As it happens, he was currently in the process of taking the League to his estate for that dinner he had promised them.

The coach was larger than usual and quite nice-looking, but otherwise, did not really stand out. The horses were of strong breed and black of fur. Dexter's preference for darker colours shining through once again.

The League were all sitting in the back of the coach.

"It has been a long time since I've been this far inland," Nemo commented to the others. "I do not much care for being so far from my ship and my crew, but I confess I am curious to see what sort of dwelling Dexter has."

"I just want some proper food in me," said Quatermain. "Your _Nautilus_ is an amazing machine, Captain, but I could do with some good food on dry land for a bit."

"I agree," said Jekyll. "I … I only hope that nothing too … well, too exciting happens. The last thing I need is Edward destroying Dexter's home …"

" _Aheheh_. Nervous, are we, Dr Jekyll?" Griffin asked mockingly. His face was covered in bandages and he was wearing a pair of shades. "I, for one, think Mr Verser is a sentimental fool trying to bring some sense of camaraderie out of all this. All his insistence on taking us to his house tells me is that he's too attached to his home comforts to make do with what we had in the city."

"I hardly think Dexter foolish," Mina said sharply. "Would you not return to your home if you could, Mr Griffin?"

"To recover my laboratory equipment and scientific journals, certainly. But would I stay out of some sentimental attachment? No, I certainly wouldn't. I am above such things. Awfully eager to jump to the man's defence, aren't you, Miss Murray?"

"He brings up a good point," Quatermain said begrudgingly. "You seem a lot closer with Mr Verser than you are with the rest of us."

"I … confess I've noticed that, as well," Jekyll said weakly.

Nemo did not comment. Though his thoughts turned to his wife and daughter back on Lincoln Island. He hoped he would be able to return to them soon. To tell the truth, he accepted Dexter's invitation mostly out of politeness, his curiosity being second by far to his wish to see his family again. Assuming no emergencies showed themselves in the next few days, he might even be able to make that particular trip relatively soon.

"D-Don't be ridiculous!" Mina scolded them. Her face was red from slight embarrassment, though after their mission together, the others took her being red in the face to mean she is angry, which she was grateful for in this instance. She went quiet from that point forward.

Griffin was about to start mocking her again, but Dexter's voice called back to them.

"We're here!"

They looked out the windows and found that the coach was making its way across an incredibly large field. The road they were going down looped in front of the mansion in an oval shape, and it split off into three other roads at intervals around the oval. The mansion itself was especially large. Two staircases sat at the front, first going outwards from one another and then turning back inwards until they met at the front door. Statues peppered the roof, which was an accessible area if all the railings were anything to go by. The front of the house almost made it look like some sort of cathedral, with a triangular-roofed porch that was so large it had to be held up by a series of stone pillars.

Something the members of the League did not know but Dexter did was that this mansion would one day be the headquarters of the Kingsman intelligence organisation. It was always a comfort to Dexter to know that there would one day be an intelligence organisation in this crapsack world that was not completely corrupt.

The coach pulled to a stop. A few moments later, Dexter opened the doors of the coach. He held out a hand to help Mina in climbing out, but the others did so on their own. Had it been anyone else, Mina doubted she would have accepted the hand.

"Welcome to my home," said Dexter. "This is where I tend to spend time between Leagues. Well, I say that, but we're only the third. Anyway, the government haven't found me out here yet, and likely won't for quite sometime. At least not until satellite imagery is invented."

"What?" Quatermain asked in confusion.

"Don't you worry about it. Anyway, if you'd all like to follow me. Er, actually, Griffin, you can go in first. I don't want you out of my sight for any longer than I have to."

" _Aheheh_. Scared, are you?" asked Griffin.

"No. I just want to make sure you're within killing range in case you do something abhorrent. It's really the only reason I invited you."

Griffin just laughed, amused.

The second they walked through the doors, Dexter's love for Gothic architecture became apparent to them. Everything on the inside was made to look as dark as possible, right down to the walls being papered in black and the carpets being in crimson red. There were dark grey stone statues and carvings on the walls that unsettled them quite a bit.

"If I did not know better, my friend, I'd say you worship the Devil," said Nemo.

"But I _am_ the Devil, Nemo." No one saw it, but Dexter's eyes briefly flashed red.

{Damn right you are,} Lucifer Morningstar said in Dexter's mind.

{Shut up, Lucy, you egotistical asshole,} said Percy Jackson.

{What did you call me, you little sh—}

 _Okay, you guys, calm your tits,_ Dexter scolded them.

"Hello, everyone," said a woman who was coming down the grand staircase. It was Blue Heart. She was wearing a lavender blush dress that came down to just above her knees, leaving the lower parts of her legs exposed in a manner rather inappropriate for the time period; the dress was non-restrictive, and thus her bust, though still impressive-looking, was not as constricted by her clothing as it had been in London. Over the dress is a thin violet fleece. Her high-heels were Indian red. She looked at everyone with a certain amount of fondness, but made it a point to completely ignore Griffin. "Surprised to see me?"

"Somewhat," said Quatermain.

"Well, she isn't just a trick I pull out of my arse whenever I need something doing, you know," Dexter said matter-of-factly. "The only reason she's out here rather than with me is that she got so used to being in calmer places while we were still trying to regulate the form that it sometimes doesn't occur to either of us that she should come until I'm already in the thick of some situation."

"It's a habit I'm trying to break," said Blue Heart. "It just keeps slipping my mind."

"W-What do you mean by 'regulate'?" asked Jekyll. He had some idea, but his scientific curiosity prompted him to ask, anyway.

"Well, I used to take a hell of a lot of energy to maintain," Blue Heart explained. "Outside of combat situations, I could stick around just fine. But if I used up too much energy in a fight, eventually, I was forcibly removed from the driver's seat and Dexter was back. It took a little while to regulate me so I could stick around on my own steam, but I'd say it was worth it."

"You're bloody right it was," said Dexter. "Anyway, how about we get you lot to your rooms? Come on."

Dexter led the way, and the League followed. Blue Heart did not come for some reason. The group ascended the stairs and entered into one of the first floor corridors.

"Where are your staff?" asked Nemo. "A house this big must have servants, yes?"

"I'm my own staff," said Dexter. "If I'd taken you to the kitchen, you'd have seen several of me already on the go with the preparations. One of the advantages to being able to be everywhere at once is that I can do pretty much everything that needs doing around here all on my lonesome."

"That's handy," said Quatermain.

"Where did you come across all these abilities of yours?" Griffin asked abruptly.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Dexter asked. "Not that I'd tell you, anyway, Griffin, but the way I got my powers would be quite useless to you. They're not the sort of thing any old cunt can come by."

From there, conversation was pretty dead. Until they got to the first room that is.

"This'll be yours, Henry," Dexter said to Jekyll. He opened the door and stepped inside. It was a relatively normal-looking room, all things considered, nothing like the dark architecture of the rest of the building. "I always keep the guest bedrooms looking relatively ordinary. I appreciate that not everyone shares my tastes. Anyway, let me show you something."

Dexter walked to the far end of the room, by the windows, and drew the curtains. Then he came back to the door.

He put his hand on the wall and a light switched on on the ceiling.

The League all took a startled step back, and Dexter started laughing.

"Electric lightbulbs," he said. "You just press this switch on the wall here, surrounded by the plastic white square. I was thinking about giving you some of these for the _Nautilus_ , Nemo. To be quite frank with you, the technology on that thing is so far ahead of it's time, I was surprised to see you're still using candles, gas-powered lamps, and the like."

"It … would be most appreciated," Nemo said slowly, dazzled.

"Your home is amazing," said Mina.

"Thank you," said Dexter. "Now, Henry, if you want to get settled in here, I'll show the others to the other guest rooms. Come along."

* * *

 **(Play "London Town" by Miracle of Sound)**

 **Opening Instrumentals**

We are treated to a view of London docks. There is no wind or rain, thus the sea still other than the usual waves.

… But there is one area that is being disturbed …

The _Nautilus_ emerges from beneath the waves, its mass causing quite a stir in the streets.

The camera pans down to the streets, where the workers are all gawking at the huge ship, their skin and clothes black with dirt.

 **Slaves in seas of soot we drown**

 **Come on down to London town**

The _Nautilus_ opens up and out steps Dexter Verser.

 **Susan Dalian**

 **The cogs they creak and pistons pound**

 **Come on down to London town**

Following Dexter out of the ship is Captain Nemo. He glares around at his surroundings bitterly, scowling.

 **Irrfan Khan**

 **Power cloaked in progress**

 **Smoke in Eden's eyes**

The camera cuts to London Bridge where, awaiting the two gentlemen, Mina Murray stands, making sure to keep as far away from passers by as possible. Her red scarf is blown to the side in a sudden gust of wind.

 **Winona Ryder**

 **A million choking chimneys burn**

 **And blacken out the sky**

We are suddenly in Paris, in a small flat. Dr Henry Jekyll has his hands clutched against his face tightly, his face cringing. In the mirror he is facing, Mr Edward Hyde grins out at him maliciously.

 **James Nesbitt**

 **So grab your mates and join us**

 **Where the rats rejoice**

Standing over a dead police officer, Hawley Griffin wears the dead man's clothes and smokes a cigarette he no doubt took from the man's pocket. He is completely invisible but pays no attention to the horrified looks of the people he passes.

 **Claude Rains**

 **The brazen brass of the working class**

 **Are here to find their voice**

A small town on the outskirts of London is in uproar as the citizens try desperately to escape the tripods piloted by the Molluscs, firing strange black rays and reducing anything hit to nothing, not even dust. Suddenly, the Mollusc is surrounded by a magical aura and explodes. Alexis Verser walks through the smoke of where it once was, her cheek marks glowing with magic.

 **Susan Egan**

 **Revolution holds us bound**

 **Come on down to London town**

Another Mollusc, just across the town, is shown having one of its legs sliced off with a long sword. Michael Verser then jumps atop it as it falls down and drives his sword into the "head" of the tripod, killing the creature within.

 **Nolan North**

The camera pans out and shows a very nervous-looking Campion Bond watching from a distance.

 **With**

 **Ralph Fiennes as Campion Bond**

 **Break your back for class and crown**

 **Come on down to London town**

The scene switches to the British Museum, where Mycroft Holmes, aka "M.", is surrounded by his security detail.

 **Mark Gatiss as Mycroft Holmes/M.**

 **Steam train running on a reckless rail**

 **Speeding right into the rising gale**

We are outside again, the League all standing around a dead Mollusc as a humanoid shadow falls over them. The camera pans up as the League looks up, and down from the sky comes a very young Martian Manhunter.

 **Carl Lumbly as J'onn J'onzz**

 **Shovel harder 'cause we're on your tail**

 **London's bloody cry**

Now we come upon a forest full of animals, standing upright and wearing human clothing. Dr Alphonse Moreau watches on with a proud smile on his face.

 **and**

 **Marlon Brando as Dr Alphonse Moreau**

 **Crippled to deliver**

 **The spoils of industry**

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen stands atop the _Nautilus_ , Jekyll being superimposed over Hyde, and all of them stare out at the camera. Blue Heart is shown superimposed over Dexter.

 **Guest Starring: Rebecca Riedy**

 **Crimson are our rivers**

 **Bleed ou grief into the sea**

The screen fades to black. Two pairs of eyes, one golden and one red, linger on the screen for a moment.

 **Crispin Freeman**

 **and**

 **Matthew McConaughey**

The screen fades to black completely and fancy white text takes up the screen.

 **The Multiverser of the League**

 **Cry revolution, broken dreams**

 **Cruel revolution smoke and steam**

 **(End "London Town" by Miracle of Sound)**

* * *

Nemo paced around his room uncomfortably.

The room was very comfortable, with a king-sized bed that even had high bed posts and curtains. It seemed as though Dexter had been _expecting_ to host him at some point, as he had even had the foresight to provide effigies of Nemo's worshipped gods on the shelves lining the walls. It was a courtesy he was most grateful for. And then there were these "electric light bulbs" Dexter had - simply incredible! But even technology as amazing as that could not keep Nemo's mind from wandering back to his ship, his crew, and, most importantly of all, his family.

 _I have become too reliant on the ocean,_ Nemo thought bitterly. But why not? After all, it was all he had for quite sometime after he was removed as rightful heir to his throne in India. Settling down with his family on Lincoln Island had been nice for a while, but Nemo had been a pirate for years, was still a pirate now. He _belonged_ with the ocean.

Still, he loved his family. His daughter, he hoped, would one day captain the _Nautilus_ when he himself had passed into the next life. He did not want to miss seeing her grow into the great, fierce woman he knew she would be.

 _Not unlike Miss Murray, come to think of it._

He begrudgingly admitted to himself that he had some respect for their leader, but he would not say so out loud. As captain of his on ship, he was far too proud for that.

He continued to restlessly pace his room, unable to relax with thoughts of home and the sea filling his head.

* * *

Quatermain laid on the soft sheets of his bed and stared up at the ceiling.

He found himself feeling incredibly grateful to Dexter, a man who had initially confused him beyond words and frustrated him into anger. But thinking back on it, Quatermain realised Dexter really was trying to help him get over his addiction to the opium, and while Quatermain knew he did not need it - he was, after all, only on the stuff because he lacked an enemy to fight, something which the formation of this League had remedied - he was still silently grateful to the strangely feminine man.

 _Opium_. The word had a sickening allure to it even as he thought about it to himself.

For a moment, Quatermain thought his bed was emitting some strange vibration, but it took him all of a few seconds to realise that _he_ was the one shaking. _Craving_.

 _No,_ he thought to himself, gritting his teeth. _I'll not give in to you again!_

His addiction continued to torture him, but he fought against it.

* * *

In Jekyll's room, the curtains were now open again and the lights had been switched off.

Jekyll himself was sitting in a chair by one of the windows, wringing his hands together nervously. It was … _odd_ to be part of a large group such as this. Even odder to be among a group that seemed to accept him despite his condition. It was odd and new. Yet Jekyll found himself feeling something he had not felt in quite sometime: happiness. Of course, there had been his brief appointments with prostitutes in Paris, but that was not happiness, that was him briefly fulfilling his very human need for companionship for an hour or two. It was empty, meaningless, and nothing more than a means to keep him sane.

With this League, though … it was like he had true friends.

"You're deluding yourself," said a voice so like his own, but rougher. Jekyll looked up and saw Hyde staring back at him through the mirror on the wall. "How can they accept you when you've got a monster like me tucked away inside? It's best to face the facts, Henry. I'm all you've got."

"Y-You're wrong!" Jekyll exclaimed. He did his best to stay calm as he argued, not wanting to let Hyde loose in here. "Th-They've been very nice to me … well, everyone except Griffin, of course, but then again, he's … En-Anyway, I've been fitting in so far, and no one has had a problem with me."

Hyde laughed derogatorily.

Jekyll tried to block him out and partially succeeded. He walked over to the bed and laid down. He wanted to see if he could manage to sleep away the time until dinner started.

 _Knock knock knock!_

There was a light rapping at his door.

Jekyll got up from the bed with a slight groan. He really wanted to try and relax before dinner. He walked over to the door and slowly pulled it open. Standing on the other side was Blue Heart.

"Hi," she greeted him with an easygoing smile. "Mind if I pop in?"

"N-No," said Jekyll, stepping away from the door and opening it all the way. "Not at all. Please, come in. I …" He wanted to say _I'd like the company_ , but his confidence failed him, so he ended up awkwardly coughing instead. "Huh-How can I help you?"

"I wanted to get to know you," Blue Heart said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She sat down on the end of his bed and patted the spot beside her in invitation. "Come on, sit by me."

Jekyll hesitated for a few seconds, then complied, closing the door before he did so.

"So, why did you create your little potion?" Blue Heart asked eagerly. It was almost like it did not occur to her that this might be a sensitive subject. In reality, she did realise this, but thought that Jekyll's very nervous demeanour might require her to be as blunt as possible in order to keep from making him more so by dragging out the question. Additionally, she thought he could use some positivity.

"Uh, um, er … oh, my word, you don't waste time …" Jekyll took a breath. "The, er, the experiment was intended as a way of purging the, um … _darker_ urges of humans. You know the ones I mean. The urge to commit acts of violence, the violent lust, the thievery, the murderous thoughts we have, that sort of thing. What happened instead was, well … Edward. He is literally humanity's dark side given physical form. Well, I say that, but really he's just _mine_. I used to think him a monster, but nowadays … well, he's still a brute, but I … I can't _hate_ him for it."

"Sounds kind of like brothers," Blue Heart commented. "You don't really get along, but you don't really hate each other, either."

"I … I suppose. But it's … it's very difficult." Jekyll clutched his knees tightly and started to sweat. "I have to take such care to keep my emotions in check, or else he comes out, and he's never particularly happy when he gets his first breath of air after that. The trouble is that in worrying about my emotions getting out of hand, I get stressed, which just has him itching at the back of my mind, and I can feel myself getting closer and closer and … and …"

A soft hand rubbing against his cheek stopped his words in their tracks.

"Poor baby," Blue Heart said softly as she rubbed his cheek. Then she kissed him on the lips.

* * *

 **LEMON #1 HAS ARRIVED!**

* * *

Jekyll was dumbfounded for a few moments, then started kissing back. His hands found the silkiness of her hair and ran themselves through it. Blue Heart responded by climbing from her position next to him on the bed and straddling his lap. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed, pressing her clothed breasts against his chest. Jekyll's hands ran down from her hair and rubbed along her back. They kept on going down until they found her ass through her short dress and gave it a squeeze.

Blue Heart moaned into Jekyll's mouth at the squeeze. She had gotten to feeling horny, tucked away in the estate with only her fingers to please her. Jekyll's shyness made him genuinely cute to her, so she had no problem getting rid of her lust for awhile while helping him to do the same.

Jekyll released himself from their kiss and brought his lips to Blue Heart's neck.

"Henry," she breathed out.

She moved her hands down and unbuckled the belt holding his trousers up. It took a bit of moving, but eventually, she had them open and the tool she had to work with sticking up between their bodies. She slid off him and got on her knees in front of him. She felt her nipples grow hard as she laid eyes on his cock, which was not of unreasonable size. She wrapped her hand around it and started to pump him up and down.

"Blue … that's great …"

Blue Heart wrapped her soft lips around his swollen head. She gave it a long and sloppy kiss before pushing his dick into her mouth.

Jekyll groaned and put a hand on the back of her head.

She descended down on his prick until the back of her throat was squeezing it. She bobbed her head up and down on it. She suckled and releaed him. The Gamindustri goddess wrapped a hand around his cum-filled balls and palmed at them.

Jekyll closed his eyes, feeling her warm mouth, feeling the tightness of her throat around his knob.

Blue Heart cooed at Jekyll's chopper piercing down her throat. Her warm lips kept it trapped deep inside her mouth. Her throat tightened and released around him as she clenched the muscles in her neck.

"I … I'm getting close …" Jekyll warned.

Blue Heart bobbed up and down on him harder and faster than before, taking his tool as deep into her throat as she could get it. She could taste him, and she wanted to taste what he had in store for her.

Jekyll pushed into her mouth and launched the contents of his balls down her throat. Blue Heart tilted her head back so that all of his cum slid down her throat.

She rose to her feet and smiled. She removed her fleece, then pulled down her dress and dropped it to the floor to reveal her nice tits in a sky blue bra. The thinness of the material gave Jekyll a good look at her erect nipples. Her panties were the same colour and material, and they were soaked through in anticipation. She bent forward and placed her hands on the bed.

Jekyll smiled at her and stood up. He walked around and, upon getting behind her, pushed her panties to the side and got a look at her dripping pussy. He rubbed at it with a single finger, prompting Blue Heart to moan.

"Stick it in, Henry," she urged him. "I want you."

"All right." All the nervousness was gone from his words now. He was just too turned on for that sort of thing. He used one hand to aim properly and braced the other on Blue Heart's waist. He rubbed the tip of his equipment against her cunt for a few seconds, then inched himself inside her.

Blue Heart hummed in pleasure as every inch of Jekyll was sliding into her.

When he was all the way in, Jekyll leaned forward and slipped his hands underneath her bent over body, grabbing a breast in either hand. Her erect nipples pressed semi-sharply into his palms. He gave them a good squeeze, eliciting another light moan from her, and then moved his hips back. He pulled almost all the way out, then shoved his hips forward, fully sheathing himself inside her in less than a second. This time prompted a far louder moan from the vixen underneath him.

He slipped out and back in again and again. Her twat clenched onto his dipstick every time he withdrew, desperate to maintain the filled feeling he was providing. He picked up the pace as he went.

"More," Blue Heart moaned. "Henry … more …"

He pummeled into her, trying his best to give her what she wanted without blowing his load too early. Her nails dug into the sheets of the bed as they went at it. He leaned down further and started to kiss the back and sides of her neck. In this position, he could only pull out so far, so the more filled feeling it provided was incredibly satisfying. The fact that he was still able to thrust hard helped, too.

After a minute or so of this, Blue Heart's arms gave out and she collapsed onto the bed, dragging Henry down with her. The resulting collision pumped him even deeper in, which made her groan long and loud. And he just kept on thrusting.

Then he felt that familiar build-up of pressure in his loins. He thrusted faster and harder, grabbing onto her with a new ferocity. He continued to fuck her until …

"Ah!" he groaned.

" _Ooooooooooh,_ " she moaned.

Her snatch clamped down around his shaft as the two of them came together and he sprayed his semen all over her insides.

* * *

 **LEMON #1 END!**

* * *

In Hawley Griffin's room, the window was as wide open as he could get it. He took a puff of his cigarette and released the smoke from his lungs in a soft exhalation.

He was thinking about killing Dexter.

Actually, he was thinking about killing _all_ of them. It would be best to get to Jekyll first so he could die before Hyde had an opportunity to come out. Then Nemo, then Quatermain. The drug-addled old fool was clearly less of a threat than the pirate. Dexter, he would like to leave for last, but come to think of it, it might actually be a better idea to deal with him before the others. After that, though … well, killing the stuck-up bitch Miss Murray had a certain appeal, but that blue-haired bitch who had so thoroughly humiliated him at the so-called boarding school could do with a lot more than that. Oh, how Griffin longed to knock her around a bit and then have his way with her; it would be all the more sweet if she cried and begged. He still had the dagger, so all of this could be done.

Yet he stayed his hand.

The odds of him being able to kill either Dexter or Jekyll without the other knowing it were slim to none, so he was either going to have Dexter or Hyde trying to get him before he could make any true headway. As strong as the yellow-eyed bastard's dagger was promised to be, he doubted it would do him any good if he were forced into a confrontation with the whole damn League.

It was not like Griffin could not be patient, though. He was the Invisible Man, after all. Patience truly is a virtue in that kind of situation.

* * *

Mina Murray was topping up her make-up.

She did not normally bother with the tedious process these days, feeling no particular need to impress anyone. But since Dexter was being so kind as to cook for all of them - though the fact that he admitted to multiplying himself likely meant he did so with minimal effort - she felt a certain obligation to look her absolute best.

 _Not that he'll care how I look,_ she thought, and her heart raced.

She was still trying to truly process what he had said to her back in June. She brought a hand up and lightly touched the scarf around her neck in remembrance. He … he had called her beautiful despite knowing about the scars. He had talked about how the scars only added to it because they proved how strong she was. She would say nothing about it to the rest of the League, but in truth, she had been having trouble keeping her heart from beating out of her chest around Dexter ever since. Why, she had not felt this way since … since …

 _Since Jonathan_ , she realised. Her thoughts, which normally turned bitter at the thought of her ex-husband, now filled with a sense of elated realisation.

She had somehow managed to fall in love all over again.

* * *

"I hope you like it," Dexter said as he led them to the dining room. "Believe me, it took a lot of effort not to put poison in Griffin's."

"I'm honestly surprised you dained to provide me any food at all," Griffin sneered.

"I have a friend who would greatly detest me for that sort of behaviour." Dexter shuddered. _Even for a Multiverser, Sanji is absolutely terrifying when it comes to matters involving food,_ he thought.

{Agreed,} said all of his mental roommates.

They entered the dining room - a large room with a long table that told them Dexter was prepared to house a _lot_ of guests if such a thing were necessary - and saw that dinner was already on the table. It was a very typical Sunday roast meal, with chicken and vegetables, but it looked really well-cooked and smelt downright _divine_ , even if one or two of the people present would never admit so out loud.

Dexter sat at the head of the table, and everyone else just sat wherever they happened to get nearest to first. They started eating.

"It's very good," Quatermain complimented after a few minutes.

"Y-Yes, it really is," Jekyll agreed.

"Well, we're glad you approve," Blue Heart said, sipping from a glass of wine and discreetly winking at Jekyll, who smiled back a little weakly.

"Your culinary skills are certainly to be admired," said Nemo. "Though I do wonder the necessity of this. Is there really any need for us to remain gathered together when your crown has no need of us? You have helped me many times over the years, Dexter, and I mean no offence when I say this, but I would much rather return to the sea until we are given another mission."

"I appreciate that, Nemo," said Dexter without taking offence. "And I'd be quite eager to hear how your family are faring. But we _are_ a team, so we should take at least some time like this to … to team build, I suppose. We won't be a very effective League if we don't know each other well enough to work together."

"He's right, you know," said Jekyll. He gulped, a bit nervous, but went on. "I hope no one will take offence if I start things off. I'd like to tell you some things about Edward. You see, when I first started taking my formula, he was actually a lot shorter than I am, and he was never in control for very long. But the formula was very addictive, I couldn't stop taking it - a sentiment I'm sure Mr Quatermain can empathise on. As I kept on taking it, he grew to have more control and I even started transforming without taking the formula, as you see I do now. But as his level of control grew, he _himself_ grew, and, well … you've all seen how that turned out."

Quatermain hummed. "The monster within you grew as you gave in to your addiction more … that's actually rather a fitting metaphor."

"It's why I faked my suicide and fled to France. I knew Edward was going to become a problem, so I ran somewhere nobody knew me. It just seemed safer …"

" _Aheheh_. Yes, and then Verser came along and threw Mr Hyde out of a window," said Griffin. "France worked out really well for you, didn't it? What is the point of these trivial conversations? The League is nothing more than a means to an end for all of us. Nemo and Quatermain are both adventurers getting their fix, Jekyll hopes to be pardoned for the crimes of his beastly other, and I myself am only here for my own purposes. Mr Verser and Miss Murray, I don't know about, but I'm sure they're getting _something_ out of all this. It's within the nature of humans to think only of themselves, after all."

"If that's the case, Griffin, then you're the most human one here," said Dexter with a glare. "Not everyone shares your world views. And I'll be damned if I let a man so paper-thin I can literally see _through_ him lecture me."

" _Aheheheh_."

"The food is very nice," Mina said in an attempt at defusing the situation, which seemed as though it might grow more hostile if left untouched. "You've done a marvelous job with it, Dexter. Thank you. And thank you for your hospitality in general. Your house is simply superb."

"There's no need to thank me, Mina," said Dexter. "Though you've been rather quiet so far. Is something the matter?"

"He brings up a good point," said Quatermain. "Usually, it's a chore to get you to shut up, Miss Murray."

"I … um …" Luckily for her, Mina was saved the trouble of making up an answer by something incredibly strange happening.

A swirling violet light, a portal, opened up over the table, and out of it flew a woman, but one that clearly wasn't entirely human. Everything about her was in shades of purple, to her pale lavender hair that reached her ankles, her violet skin, and the large pair of butterfly wings sprouting from her back, covered in suns, moons, and black spades. She had six arms, two of which were carrying a silvery gold staff topped with a crescent moon with a red, eye-like orb in the inner curve and covered in black ribbons and jeweled chains, and if you looked closely into her magenta eyes, you could see that her pupils were in the shapes of spades, and her eyelashes were also tipped with azure spades as well. A pair of antennae also sprouted from her head, with black, oval tips that gleamed like jewels (they were in fact opals), and on her cheeks were glowing purple spades with butterfly wings on the sides. Lastly, on her (admittedly shapely and extremely buxom) body was a flowing white gown with black trim, black heels on her feet, and a platinum body chain. To top it off, on her head she wore a circlet woven from brambles and silver, jewel studded chains, making her almost look like a fairy queen of sorts, if they were absolutely soaked to the bone in blood. Her dress was almost entirely dyed red by it, her wings dripped the warm liquid onto the table and sprayed it with every flap, and the crescent moon on her wand seemed to be used as a sickle of sorts, the red eye inside it pulsing like a bloodthirsty god.

Everyone reared back from shock except for Dexter and Blue Heart, who while definitely surprised by the sudden arrival were also familiar with the creature. Jekyll reacted worst of all - any confidence his earlier rendezvous with Blue Heart had given him deserted him in a split-second, and with a surprised yell, he leaned backwards too far and toppled out of his chair.

"Hello, Alexis," both Dexter and Blue Heart said relatively calmly.

The League all looked at them with confusion writ upon their faces.

"I'm sorry … _Alexis_?" Quatermain asked in bafflement. "So you, er … _know_ this thi- creature, then?" He avoided using the word "thing," as, having spent some time with Hyde on their last little venture, he knew that non-human creatures such as this could in fact be intelligent enough to take offence.

"Yes," said Dexter. "She doesn't always look like this, if that's a comfort to you, though I'd prefer it if you weren't so judgemental based on appearances. Anyway, Alexis … how the bloody hell did you end up here?"

"First off," Alexis said, her voice echoing due to her magic. "I can introduce myself y'know." And with a puff of rose-colored smoke, a human-looking woman landed on the table. Gone was the odd colored skin, the antennae, the wings, and the extra pairs of arms; here was a relatively normal-looking woman. Her skin was a deep tan, as though she spent her days in the sun, her hair was shorter, reaching her knees, and was a rich, dark brown color, her breasts gotten smaller, down to a J-cup, and when she opened her eyes, they were now brown as well, with normally shaped pupils. The only remnant of the butterfly woman were the violet cheek marks, which glowed briefly before disappearing. What she wore was scandalous for the time; a black, short-sleeved dress with lace trim on the collar that reached her calves, showing off her ankles and the matching heels she wore, black elbow-length gloves, and a black choker with an engraved crescent moon hanging from it.

"I'm aware," Dexter said dryly. "But we're not even in the 1900s yet, these people do not do well with creatures they can't identify suddenly popping up in front of them. No offence, you lot," he added, addressing the other members of the League.

"Is that why they're staring at my ankles?" she asked jokingly.

"I dunno. Are you, Nemo?"

Nemo looked utterly nonplussed. "I … what? I'm sorry, the shock had me a bit far away in the head for a moment."

"Fair enough. Best not to pay attention to me singling you out, then. It was kind of racist, anyway, in hindsight, so sorry for that. And-" He paused, noticing a pile of clothes on the floor. When he next spoke, his tone was filled with incredulity. "Griffin, are you _hiding in the corner?_ "

" _Aheheh._ " The laugh came out slightly awkwardly this time. "Sorry?" He really wasn't.

Dexter tutted. "That's Griffin, the Invisible Man. We hate Griffin and he's only alive because frankly, he hasn't done anything warranting anything worse than a severe choking since he joined the team. Before that, though … well, there are several girls with unwanted babies now, let's put it that way."

"Welp, looks like I gotta put my gynecology skills to work. I wonder if I could pass it off as a stillbirth or miscarriage..." she mused.

"Most of them think they're up the spout with the second coming of Christ," Dexter said. "Frankly, that whole boarding school was pretty backwards, if, admittedly, kind of … well, kinky would be putting it politely. Their disciplinary practices were pretty questionable."

"Oooh, now I gotta see that for myself!" she said, summoning a notepad and peacock feather quill. "What was the name of the place?"

A grunt emanated from the place behind Jekyll's toppled-over chair. A massive, reddish-brown hand reached up and gripped the table. "What the fuck just happened?" Edward Hyde demanded as he stood up to his full height. Jekyll's clothes were ripped on him, but they were still _on_ , so Jekyll must have worn bigger than he needed in a moment of foresight.

"Cool it, Hyde," said Dexter. "She's another guest."

"So this is Edward Hyde?" Alexis asked, her eyes sparkling sauntering up to him. "Dexter told me a lot about you, but he didn't say how much of a hunk you were." She winked at him.

Hyde stared at her. "What?" he asked flatly. Both out of disbelief at how she was acting and out of confusion as to what the hell "hunk" meant.

"Probably should've seen this coming …" Dexter muttered to himself.

"So, you get many admirers?" she said, caressing his chin.

Hyde's look was about as flat as a creature of his description could give. "Do I _look_ like I get many admirers?"

She looked him up and down.

"Is that a rhetorical question?" she asked.

Hyde growled, suddenly sure he was being mocked. "Don't get smart with me."

"Oh no, in fact, I'd rather you fuck me until I don't even know my own name."

Hyde, having no response to this but the confusion he was feeling, said nothing.

"U-Um, do pardon me," Mina spoke up, "but I'm still not quite sure I understand who you are exactly."

Alexis spun on her heel to face Mina, a grin on her face. "Alexis Verser, Aspect of Knowledge, Queen of Mewni, Goddess of Magic, at your service. I got a dozen other titles but those are some of my faves," she said with a bow.

"As you can see, the very picture of subtlety and modesty," Blue Heart said dryly.

"I've known these people three months and haven't gotten as far into explanations as she has in just ten seconds," Dexter remarked. "Maybe I should try just coming out with it sometime and see how that works out."

"I'm sorry, but did you just say 'Queen' and 'Goddess' …?" asked Quatermain.

"Well, she's certainly a goddess in one sense," said Griffin's seemingly disembodied voice. They did not need to see him to know that he was leering at her.

"I think she did say those things, yes," said Nemo, having regained his composure. He was just as startled as the rest of them by her apparent titles, but he had kept up a stoic demeanour for years - it would take more than words to break it again.

"I'd think it unlikely if not for what we just saw," Mina said, logical but nonetheless amazed.

"Yup!" Alexis piped up eagerly. "I'm the physical embodiment of magic itself, and the reigning Queen of the Mewni, passed down from mother to daughter, along with this nifty wand here," she said, holding up her staff.

"If it weren't for the fact that we have Queen Victoria, everything you just said probably would have made these men violently angry," Dexter said with amusement.

"I'm not drunk enough for this …" Quatermain muttered.

"I've seen worse in Westeros. Did you know that Tywin nearly had an aneurysm when he learned only females can inherit the wand?" Alexis said.

"I was in Westeros," Dexter reminded her. "I may not have been specifically _there_ when that happened, but I … _think_ I met Tywin at least once. To be honest with you, I think I just wanted to forget the vile bastard. Anyway, that sort of response from him really doesn't surprise me."

"Yeah, but he actually outdrank Tyrion that night. _Tyrion_."

"... All right, consider me surprised."

"I feel like we're being left out of something," Nemo commented.

"What, they're actually talking?" asked Hyde. "I just thought they were spouting fucking gibberish."

"Oh, don't worry," they heard a feminine voice behind them. "You'll be in the loop soon." It was Alexis.

The two of them turned around, Hyde quickly and Nemo slowly. Hyde's face failed to conceal the surprise he was feeling and also the slight anger at being snuck up on. Nemo's face remained a mask of indifference even as he, too, felt the startling fear that comes with someone you were looking at moments before suddenly being behind you.

"Mr Verser, do you have any alcohol?" Quatermain asked, almost desperately at this point.

"I could go for some wine," Griffin commented.

"No one cares what you want, Griffin," said Dexter. "And put your bloody clothes on, for fuck's sake. I'm sure literally no one is comfortable with the fact that you're still naked."

"So, you still got some grub, or should I go make some of my famous brownies?" Alexis asked Dexter.

"You know for a fact I'll never turn down the brownies if they're offered," Dexter said, his appetite fully restored.

"Some pudding does sound lovely," said Mina.

"Alright, and Dex, do you want me to put in the good kush or…?"

"Er, let's go easy on that this time. I wouldn't normally say it, but we have a recovering drug addict here. Probably best not to risk triggering a relapse when he's really only just started shooting straight again. No offence, Quatermain."

"At this point, I just can't bring myself to care what you say," said Quatermain.

"Alright, so regular it i-who just grabbed my ass?" Alexis asked, looking behind her.

"Looking at the evidence, that would be Invisibitch," said Blue Heart. "Just do what you like. No one will care what happens to Griffin."

Alexis snapped her fingers, and a bear trap appeared, closing in around a certain _appendage_ of Griffin's. His screams echoed throughout the room.

Dexter started applauding. "A wonderful melody! Five stars," he said happily.

"... Admittedly, I do feel much better now," Quatermain admitted.

Before anyone else could get a response out, Hyde started bellowing out uproarious laughter.

Alexis grinned and took a bow. "Thank you, thank you! We'll be doing a repeat performance anytime Griffin looks at anyone funny, and since he's invisible, we can assume it's all the time!"

Hyde's laughter went on. "You're weird," he said, "but I think I'm starting to like you."

"There does seem to be some poetic justice to this," even Nemo - the _pirate_ \- admitted.

"I'm not sure to heal him or not," Alexis admitted. "On one hand, healing him means I can do this again, but on the other, it's Griffin."

"Probably best to heal him," Dexter said, _very_ begrudgingly. "I hate this bastard, but if the Crown decides we need him, it's probably a good idea to have him at least in sound condition. And the promise of repeated pain is very appealing."

"Healing it is!" Alexis said, taking out a large syringe filled with a sickly green liquid. "Griffin, assume the position!"

"This is going to be hilarious," Blue Heart said idly.

"What's she going to do?" Mina asked out of morbid curiosity.

"Fill Griffin with something to make him better," said Dexter. "He even comes with a really convenient entry point."

Griffin wouldn't be able to sit right for a few days straight after that.

* * *

Hyde opened the door to his - well, _Jekyll's_ \- room, just about done with the day after everything that happened. Being flirted with by a buxom butterfly woman who came out of a portal covered in blood was not on his list of expectations for working in the League. Though the fact that her appearance was apparently enough to set Jekyll's transformation off amused Hyde to no end, he was now slightly stuck as to what to do with his time here. It wasn't like his usual habits were considered particularly … liked, much less acceptable, by these people.

He turned on the lights over his bed (he'd never admit it out loud, but the electric lighting Dexter had installed in his estate made life far easier), turned around, ready to call it night. That plan was scrapped as soon as he saw what, or more precisely, who, was on his bed.

It was Alexis, now in her more human form, wearing nothing but a pair of black panties with the letter "H" on them in blood red and a grin. Her hourglass body was bared to the world; the slope of her large, round breasts with rosy pink nipples, her thin waist and her smooth stomach, her wide hips with a pair of long, curvaceous legs that almost seemed to go on for miles, and round, juicy behind. Silence filled the room as Hyde stood still, struggling to comprehend this turn of events.

"I think you've got the wrong room," Hyde said roughly after his brain rebooted after the shock of seeing her like this. It wasn't that the sight wasn't pleasing to him, but really, a beast his size attracting any woman, let alone a woman like this? Now _that_ was ridiculous.

She hummed, looking around, before looking back at him. "Nope," she said, popping the 'p'. "I think I'm in the right place." She winked.

Hyde growled. "No games, woman. If you don't piss off, I'll bloody well eat you."

"Well, I wouldn't mind that, if you know what I mean," she said. Hyde looked at her with wide eyes, shocked into silence.

 _has stopped working,_ Alexis thought with amusement.

Hyde was very confused. It … it seemed like she was being serious. But no, no, that couldn't be it, could it? With how big he was, he was liable to kill her! He knew, for he had done so before, always when particularly angry with the person (usually a prostitute) in question. It wasn't a question of bragging as some might think; he was simply too big for anyone to safely have sex with. So the fact that this woman had seen him and taken a legitimate interest …

"Are you out of your bleeding mind?" he had to ask.

"If it's a matter of whether or not you'll rip me in two, I fucked a dragon twice your size. Magic has its perks," she said, conjuring up a flame the color of a midnight sky, before extinguishing it just as quickly.

"I'm the same species as Dexter, I'm sturdier than I look." She got up, her breasts bouncing with each movement, and walked over to Hyde.

"So are you going to fuck me, or are you too pussy to do so?"

* * *

 **LEMON #2 HAS ARRIVED!**

* * *

Hyde growled savagely, brought one of his massive hands up, and shoved her back and onto the bed. After that, it was a matter of pride now, no matter how mental the bitch might be.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," he said.

"Oh honey, there's nothing to warn me about," she said, sitting up. Hyde pushed her back down.

Hyde grinned. He took that as a challenge. "We'll see." At that moment he was flipped over and pinned down onto the bed, Alexis on top of him. She tsked.

"Lesson number one; I always top the first time." At that, she ripped his shirt off, revealing his chest.

He had a unique body, to say the least. It was a wonder any of the skin survived the transformation without being ripped apart. His upper-body, at the very least, looked as if it was just pure, unadulterated muscle with only the barest amount of reddish-brown skin pulled over it. To most, this would be repulsive, but to Alexis Verser … well, let's just say her 'grandmother' would be proud of her.

I wasn't called Eclipsa II back in Mewni for nothing she thought, looking over Hyde and licking her lips. Guess it runs in the family. She straddled Hyde as much as she could, considering his size and leaned forward, kissing him.

Hyde froze. It wasn't so much the kiss that did it, though that was pleasant and surprising. No, it was the fact that Alexis had taken charge. Hyde is a big man, a savage man, a man who is feared by all who meet him … but this woman was actually so bold as to not only proposition him but take charge when everything got started. Regardless of how this turned out, Hyde could say without a shadow of a doubt that Alexis Verser was something new, and that excited him.

She rubbed her hands up and down his chest tracing every muscle and dip and contour, while she began to kiss up and down his neck, occasionally nipping and sucking on a piece of skin,, leaving pink and red marks up and down his neck, shoulder, and clavicle. Hyde growled with her touch, growing more and more frustrated with her teasing. Alexis slid back up and kissed him again, this time slipping her tongue into his mouth. Now that was a bold move, as most women would be intimidated by the large and very sharp teeth poking out of his mouth. But Alexis wasn't most women, and Hyde soon got into it as well, his tongue wrestling with hers. When she broke the kiss, she gave him a seductive look, a string of saliva connecting their lips.

"Let's see about the rest of your clothing, hm?" And with a snap of her fingers he was entirely bare from the waist down, without a stitch of clothing on him.. Alexis slid down his body, making sure to brush against him, until she was face to face with his erection.

It was large, more than a foot long, and with an impressive girth. Bulging veins went up and down the shaft, and at the base, well...no one could dispute he has a pair, or that he had big enough balls for anything literally or figuratively. She gave it a slight lick, smirking at the growl she got in response, and set to work. She wrapped her hand around it as much as she could and began to pump it, making sure to tease the sensitive veins, while her tongue poked out between her soft, plump lips and began to trace circles around the tip, all while she looked him straight in the eyes.

Hyde hissed through his sharpened teeth. "Bloody hell," he said. It was all he could say through the pleasure. It was the first time he'd gotten this treatment from any woman. It was all new ground for him. She licked up and down the base like she would an ice pop, while her hand trailed down, gently squeezing his balls, making him grunt in response. The other went between her legs, slipping into her panties and gently rubbing at her clit. So invested in her servicing, she didn't notice the massive hand coming up from behind her head as she gave his 'head' a kiss.

Without warning, she felt herself be shoved down, Hyde's dick slipping past her lips and into her warm, wet mouth. If this were any ordinary woman, she would have gagged, but years of cocksucking had eliminated Alexis's gag reflex completely. Her eyes widened as she felt him bury himself in her throat with a grunt, drool trickling out from the spaces between her lips and his dick and her tongue was brushing the underside, buried under the intruder.

"Fucking hell, you really _can_ take it," Hyde grunted in equal parts surprise and pleasure. He simply got a pair of bedroom eyes in response from her. She moved back, until only the tip was between her lips, and Hyde grabbed her by her hair and slammed her back down, all the way to the hilt. He repeated this action a few more time, slowly gaining momentum, until he was rutting into her mouth like an animal in heat, which wasn't quite inaccurate. Alexis, for her part, took it, gently scraping her teeth against his shaft, while her hand worked furiously inside her now soaking panties, her fingers digging deeper into herself.

Hyde growled in pleasure. As his lust took over, he stopped worrying about the possibility of hurting her as he had before (especially since she's shown she can take him into her mouth without worry) and started to just go with it. He kept on fucking her throat like there was no tomorrow, revelling in the new and exciting sensations. He did not know it, but letting go of his reservations as he was made it even better, for any sexual contact he'd had before this night had always inevitably ended in a bloodbath. Not that he minded that, but sex without all the gore was certainly a different experience.

 _Shlickshlickshlickshlickshlickshlick_

The wet noises echoed throughout the room, forming with each thrust of Hyde's hips into her mouth. A slapping sound could also be heard amongst the squishes and Hyde's grunts, as his balls roughly slammed against Lexi's chin by each powerful thrust.

He managed to get into a kneeling position, with Alexis on her hands and knees, grabbing her hair and taking advantage of the new angle, the pleasure building.

Feels nice, huh? He heard a feminine voice in his head say to him. He looked around, growling at the possible intruder. Down here he heard it say, and he looked to see Alexis, smirking, or as much as she could with a giant pole of man meat in her mouth.

Hyde felt like he should be more confused by the telepathic communication. But, upon reflection, the two months or so Jekyll had spent in Dexter's company had gotten the both of them more than used to strangeness of this sort. So, wiping the thoughts from his head, he continued to face-fuck Alexis. Her throat bulged as his dick made its way down her gullet, the walls massaging his dick, trying to coax out its sticky, creamy prize. Alexis had two fingers inside her by now, pumping in time with Hyde's thrusts and eliciting moans which vibrated across his dick, adding more to the pleasure.

No sooner did Hyde feel the pressure in his loins hitting its pique than did his thrusts pick up speed and become something even more primal than they had been before. Finally, the barrier broke and Hyde let out a mighty roar as he unleashed his cum into Alexis' mouth. Thick, powerful blasts of his seed was shot down her throat, filling up her stomach. Hyde remained buried inside her until he was reaching the tail end of his orgasm, pulling out and shooting his seed onto her face and breasts, painting them white. Some were even shot into her open, panting mouth, her tongue lolling out to catch the drops. Her inner thighs were soaked with her juices, her panties completely drenched as she had creamed herself as well.

She licked her lips, tasting some of the sticky fluid coating them. "Mmm, tasty," she said.

Hyde was breathing deeply after his orgasm. "You aren't normal," he said. It was a compliment. "Anyone else would've choked or had their jaws split open."

Alexis spread her hands, and the words "Magic" appeared in glowing, neon pink Gothic font. "Never underestimate the power of magic," she said with a wink. "Now, how about you return the favor…" Hyde found himself once more pinned to the bed, this time with Alexis straddling his face, her dripping pussy above his mouth.

Hyde, remembering that he _had_ promised to eat her, and considering himself a man of his word even if an insanely _violent_ man of his word, slid his thick, pink tongue out of his mouth and dragged it over the pussy hovering over his face. Alexis gave out a gasp, bucking her hips at the sensation. He hummed at the taste of her, something he couldn't quite place, but was sweet with a bit of spice. Alexis moaned when she felt the vibrations, and tugged at his hair, trying to get more.

Hyde really went for it. He could not do as much as most men in this position due to his size, but that also served as an advantage. He dragged his long, thick, slightly pointed tongue over her juicy lips over and over again, only ever getting the very end of it inside her and only briefly, but the teasing sensation it caused was maddening.

" _Stick it in,_ " she pleaded, her body growing hotter and hotter with each lick. He even managed to find her clit with the tip and tease it a bit, dragging her closer to the edge. " _More, Hyde, please_."

The pleading … Hyde _liked_ the pleading. To show her how much he liked it, he gave her what she wanted and shoved as much of his tongue into her as he could manage with one shove. Alexis cried out in pleasure, and Hyde felt his tongue be surrounded by tight, wet, _sweet_ walls. Her sweet juices coated his tongue, and with each second it was in her he grew more and more aroused. " _Hyde,"_ she cried out, riding his tongue. She repeated it over and over with each movement of his tongue, until he felt her walls seize up and her juices flood his mouth.

" _Hyde!"_

Hyde swallowed as the fluids entered his mouth. Being as large as he was, pretty much the whole lot slid down his throat on the first swallow. He continued to lap greedily at it, only now realising just how _addictive_ this stuff was, until the quivering of her orgasm had stopped and he slid his tongue out of her.

"W-was that your first time doing that?" Alexis asked shakily. "Y-you were a pro almost."

"Never really had reason to do it before," Hyde admitted with a grunt. "Till now, any fucking I've done has also been a murder."

"W-wow…well, let's hope you're as good with your dick as your tongue."

"And let's hope it fits as well in your twat as it does in your mouth. Or else this'll get as bloody as it usually does."

"Don't worry, it will. Like I said, I've fucked _dragons_ bigger than you are. Now do me a favor and fuck me until I can't walk for a week."

Hyde grinned, showing off his sharpened teeth to the fullest extent. "That, little missy, I can guarantee."

Without warning, he pinned her to the bed, his large frame towering over her relatively small one. He did not even bother giving a warning. His massive prick was pressed right up against her pussy lips. This time, he was not going to tease her, he was _through_ with waiting. He did what his every nerve was telling him to do and shoved his hips forward, impaling her on his ridiculously long, thick cock.

"AH!" Alexis' eyes widened as she felt him split her open. True to her word, she managed to take him in, with a small bulge in her stomach from his stretching her apart. Hyde growled as he felt her walls convulse and tighten around him, her pussy begging for his seed. "So big…"

Embarrassing as it was for him, he very nearly gave it to her then and there. He was not used to this sort of tightness. By this point, the person (man or woman, ass or cunt, it really did not matter to him) was normally so split open that there was barely any tightness to speak of, and the gore acted as a lubricant. He did not get that here. He was having actual, non-fatal sex for the first time, and damn it, he was going to _fuck this little minx until he was indented into her for days!_

He wasted no time to start thrusting. He was not gentle, for she had already proved that she could take it. And he would make _sure_ she took _all_ of what he gave her.

Within minutes, she was a moaning mess below him, her pupils now in the shape of hearts as she grew more and more horny. "M-more!" She begged, wrapping her legs around his waist, or as much as she could. "H-Hyde, please, _more!"_ She was drooling at this point, her tongue lolling out and her eyes rolling into the back of her head from the pleasure. Alexis Verser was, at this point, the definition of "fucked silly". And Hyde couldn't get enough of her.

"You'll remember this!" Hyde growled as he fucked her without relenting. "I'll make fucking sure I leave you with something to remember this by!"

"W-wha-AH!-d-do you m-m-mean?" she managed to ask between thrusts.

"I mean you'll have little monsters coming _out_ of you rather than going in," he growled. Little did he realise it, but as a creature of pure instinct experiencing _actual_ sex for the first time, the breeding instincts had kicked in.

"W-wait, you're going to kn-knock me up?" As arousing as the thought was, she wasn't quite sure if he meant it or it was the instincts talking. Hyde was impulsive to say the least.

"You bet your lovely little fucking arse I am!" He continued to ram into her with a primal fury.

"B-but-are you-sure you want-" she was cut off when Hyde flipped her over onto her front, her round, juicy ass raised into the air, and he continued pounding her from the new angle, his large hand around her waist.

He was practically mindless at this point, just fucking her as hard as he was able like an animal during mating season. He plowed into her over and over, relishing in the moans and yells she gave out.

Alexis hit her breaking point, crying out as she tightened up and came on his cock while he was still plowing her, not showing any sign of stopping. " _H-Hyde!"_

Hyde's grip on her tightened, and if it were at all possible, he actually started fucking her _harder_. He was almost completely unconscious of it, but the feeling of pressure in his loins was building, preparing to explode at any second.

"Ah! Yes! Fuck me! Breed me!" All reservations about it were gone the moment he upped his game. All that mattered was the mind blowing pleasure he was giving her. She came again, and again, and again, and yet Hyde was still going strong.

And then the dam broke.

The pressure that had been building within his crotch gave way, and a _roar_ of satisfaction escaped from his wide open mouth. The semen shooting out of his dick was thick, sticky, and plentiful, to the point where quite a lot of it actually spilled out of her, there was just so much of the stuff. She came as well, and you could almost hear her screams past the soundproofing magic of the mansion. A small bulge formed in her stomach as he filled her fertile womb with his seed. It was more than likely he managed to get her pregnant at this point, and Alexis idly wondered about his reaction if she kept it. _Hopefully not too negative,_ she thought to herself.

Hyde's breathing grew heavy and he slid out of her, already going flacid. He was regaining his senses. He wondered briefly what had been going through his head with the whole breeding thing, but remembered that, by the nature of Jekyll's formula, Hyde was basically just base human instincts that developed a personality, so he supposed he has the mating instinct in there somewhere. Either way, she would probably just take it to be something dirty he had said in the heat of the moment, so no need to worry about it. He was incredibly pleased to have warranted such reactions from her, and while he would never admit it to her, he was very happy to have found someone he could fuck without killing.

* * *

 **LEMON #2 IS DONE!**

* * *

"That was wonderful," he said. That much, at least, he would say.

"Mmm, agreed," she said, nuzzling him before planting a kiss on his lips. "But, one question, about the breeding thing…was that base instinct talking?"

"Yes," he admitted bluntly. "I apologise if that's upsetting, but that _is_ what I am when you get right down to it. I probably do want children on some level, but even I know this would be too fast. I'm a monster, not a fucking idiot."

"Oh thank god, although I never quite knew Jekyll had it within him either if you're anything to go by."

Hyde grunted, though he was somewhat glad to not have upset her.

"Still, Mewni would kill me if they found out I pulled an Eclipsa. They're already comparing me to my grandma for my cheek marks and spellwork, as well as my relatively radical ideas about monsters."

"I don't have a fucking clue what you're going on about," Hyde grumbled.

"It's a long story."

"Then don't tell it. I'm bloody tired."

* * *

Dexter was lying in his bed naked, as per usual. He did not sleep wearing anything usually, nor did he make it a habit to wear anything beneath his clothes. He often claimed it was an attempt to avoid being constricted by too many layers of clothing, but in actual fact, going commando was generally something he did for the ease of access. Let it never be said that Dexter Verser does not have a healthy sex life.

A light knock on his bedroom door roused him from his attempt at slumber. He was not a particularly heavy sleeper.

Dexter got up and put on a pair of boxer shorts out of politeness. He still _had_ them, just never saw a reason to _wear_ them unless he was dealing with someone who had slightly more reservations on what should be covered and what should not be. Considering this was 1898, he thought it appropriate to out of politeness. But he put on nothing else.

He opened the door. It was Mina. She looked nervous enough already, but when she laid eyes on his smooth, lithe, yet toned body, her face went a colour that was not quite crimson but not far off.

"Mina," Dexter said with polite interest. "What can I do for you?"

Mina took a moment to regain her composure. "May I come in?" she asked. "I'd rather not have this conversation over a door frame."

"Of course." Dexter stepped aside. "Come in. Set yourself down if you need to."

She came into the room but did not sit down. Dexter closed the door behind here and turned around, curious.

Mina took a few moments to start talking. "I hope you don't mind if this takes a while," she said. "I … I never thought these would be words I'd ever be able to say sincerely. All that horrid business with the Count … it left me scarred in more ways than one, as you have no doubt deduced for yourself, Dexter. But the worst of it comes from …" She gingerly touched the scarf around her neck. "Well, you know. These scars have become symbolic of the whole _damn_ thing. I think they're hideous, _Jonathan_ thought they dirtied me, made me damaged goods." She spoke of her ex-husband with venom as she normally did, which Dexter could not and would not blame her for. She swallowed and looked him in the eyes. "But _you_ … you said-"

"I said they prove you're strong," Dexter finished for her. "Proof of what you've been through. Proof that you went up against a monster and _lived_. In my experience, I've found that scars are maps of experience. They're nothing shameful or dirty, they're proof that you've been through something, that you're not naive of the evils of the world, that you've gotten through something painful. To be perfectly honest with you, I've always seen them more as something to be proud of than ashamed of."

Mina's breathing grew heavy. "Would you …" she hesitated, "... would you l-look at mine …?"

Dexter thought he understood what was happening now. She had been feeling insecure about her scars and he had been supportive over them. Having spent years as Aspect of the Psyche, doing his best to ensure or restore the mental health of the troubled people he came across, he was familiar with these moments when trust finally culminated and they bared themselves to him. He could never help feeling proud of himself in those moments. He did not have as large an ego as some of his fellow Multiversers, but as he had dedicated his immortal life to an understanding of the mind, whenever he was able to mentally/emotionally help someone, it always swelled his pride somewhat. The fact that he had also grown rather fond of Mina in the months they have been working together meant this turn of events also filled him with a certain amount of happiness.

"Of course," he said to her. He was well aware of how big a deal this was. "I'd be honoured."

Taking a deep breath, Mina reached up and slowly unravelled her scarf. When it finally dropped to the ground, her heavily scarred neck was revealed. These bite marks were a far cry from the two pin-prick marks commonly associated with vampires. The large, jagged pierce marks were so inconsistent in their placement, it was almost like the teeth of the creature who bit her were not lined up properly in its mouth. They covered the entire front of Mina's neck. A scarf truly was the only thing that could cover up these markings and still look inconspicuous.

Dexter stared, but not specifically at the scars, Mina noticed. He was looking at _her_ , not just one _part_ of her. And when he finally spoke again, it was one word.

"Beautiful."

Mina released a shaky breath as her heart pounded away in her chest. Her face softened and a smile broke out on her face. It was as though that one word had broken down the walls she had put up unrepentantly. She slowly walked over to Dexter, leaned up, and kissed him full on the lips.

Dexter, being no stranger at all to these sorts of situations, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close as he kissed her back.

Their lips moved together in soft tangem for about half a minute before they separated.

"I think I've fallen in love with you," Mina admitted.

"I care about you," said Dexter. "Since we met near the end of May, I've gotten to know such a strong, beautiful woman. I don't think it's love, not yet, but I can feel it growing even as we speak. I'm … sorry if that disappoints, but …"

"Not at all." Mina shook her head. "I didn't expect you to. To be honest, I'd've considered it a miracle if you did, or just thought you lying. The effect your words have had on me isn't something I can hope to replicate as quickly as this. And it doesn't affect what I plan to ask you next. Would you … spend the night with me?" The hidden meaning in her words was clear.

Dexter cupped her cheek in his hand and rubbed it with his thumb. "Yes."

They kissed again.

* * *

 **LEMON #3**

* * *

Dexter led Mina to his bed. She climbed onto it and crawled over, leaving him space to climb on after her. He got on the bed and crawled over to where she was sitting. He kissed her again. This time there was more passion in it, more lust. Their lips clashed together as they breathed heavily into each other's mouths. Mina climbed onto Dexters lap, straddling him, and he ran his hands up and down her back, occasionally cupping her ass as well as he could through her dress. She ran her hands through his hair at first, then moved to his arms, rubbing them up and down and feeling the muscles beneath the skin.

Dexter slid his tongue into her mouth and met with no resistance. The two wet muscles in their mouths rubbed against each other tenderly. Dexter reached up and slid Mina's dress down from the shoulders. There position would not allow it to come off entirely, but it revealed the tight white corset she was wearing underneath.

Dexter separated their kiss.

"How do you stand wearing that thing?" he asked. To his knowledge, corsets are not exactly comfortable.

"I'm used to it," Mina said with heavy breaths. "I think I'd best slip this dress off, don't you?"

"Certainly."

Mina got off Dexter's lap and laid down so that she could slide her dress the rest of the way down her legs. Her underwear was the same colour as her corset and not particularly racy, as that sort of thing was not quite popularised in the 1800s, I'm afraid to tell you. Those came off easily enough. But the corset …

"Would you help me unfasten this wretched thing at the back?" Mina asked.

"Of course," said Dexter.

As he untied the back of Mina's corset, Dexter thought, not for the first time, _I can't wait for bras to come into fashion. They're much easier to get off than these fucking things._

Mina let out a sigh of relief as her corset came undone and fell down in front of her. She threw it to the floor uncaringly, and then slipped her underwear off, too. It joined her other clothes on the floor of Dexter's bedroom. Remembering at last that he had put on boxer shorts for answering his door, Dexter gave it a thought and they simply vanished from his person. It was only afterwards that he realised he could have done much the same with Mina's corset and cursed himself for the lack of thought.

They sat on the king-sized bed naked.

"Lie down," Dexter said. When Mina did so, Dexter climbed between her legs, his head level with her moist vulva. "I'm going to make you feel really good."

He lightly kissed her lower lips. She hummed. He did it again, and again. Then he stuck his tongue out and licked in a circle around the edges. Mina shuffled on her behind and bucked her hips a bit, wanting him to go faster or at least stick it inside her. Dexter licked all around Mina's lady parts twice, then dragged his tongue right up the centre. A soft moan exited Mina's throat.

He brought a finger up and lightly poked at the hardened nub of Mina's clitoris. She made a quiet squeal and shook her hips, wanting more. Dexter continued to poke at her clit as he finally slipped his tongue inside her cunt. This prompted a much louder response from her. His tongue went in slowly at first, gingerly, exploring, getting a grip on what her insides were like. It went around in a circle, feeling every inch of her wet inner walls that it could reach, until Dexter's tongue was extended to its fullest. At this point, he started waving it around wildly inside her, not caring which of the walls it was colliding with. Mina grabbed the back of Dexter's head and pushed him further in, as far as he could go. He started making the alphabet with his tongue, a technique which sounded ridiculous but was actually very effective.

As one hand played with Mina's clitoris, the other reached up past her lower half and cupped one of her breasts lightly. He could feel the hardened point of her nipple pressed into his hand. Mina grabbed the other one herself and was kneading it as her other hand worked to press Dexter's face even deeper into her pussy.

As Mina got wetter, her insides got hotter. These are signs Dexter recognised. Knowing what they meant, he picked up the pace of his licking and started to flick her clitoris. It was not long before Mina's twat constricted round his tongue and he felt a splash of warm liquid hit him in the face as Mina moaned her loudest yet.

As soon as Mina's quivering from her orgasm had stopped, Dexter crawled up her body until their faces were level, at which point he planted a soft kiss on her lips.

"I hope you enjoyed that," he said, "because the next part is the fun part." To emphasise his point, he humped her a little, grinding his twelve-inch penis against her twat.

"Fuck me," she said. "I want you to fuck me."

"All right, then."

He eased his way inside her, at first only putting the head of his phallus inside her. As he slid slowly inside her, she hummed at the sensation. Her legs came up and embraced his buttocks and her hands found their way to his back and started rubbing it. Dexter leant down and kissed her neck. When he had fully sheathed himself inside her, they lay there for a few moments. Then he started moving.

His hips rocked back and forth slowly at first. Mina's clutching at his back was just that: clutching. He moved his face up from the crook of her neck and planted a kiss on her lips, which she returned. Mina's thighs gripped him as his hips moved back and forth, his member sliding in and out of her softly but pleasurably. Their tongues danced and Dexter's hip movements picked up in speed. He moved his hands up between them to caress her breasts and tweak her hardened nipples.

As he got faster, Mina's hands went from feeling up his back to clawing at it as her pleasure demanded that she grip onto something. They moaned and groaned into each other's mouths. Dexter pumped in and out of her. Mina found, to her shock and delight, that she was already on the verge of climax. She started girating her hips in tandem with Dexter's thrusts.

Dexter released her mouth from his own, and she released a gasp. He sent his head down and placed a kiss on her neck. Then he went down further and found himself facing one of her erect nipples as he cupped her breast from the bottom. He leant forward and kissed it, sucking on her hardened nub.

His sex continued to pummel into her own even as the heat in her loins hit its peak for the second time that night. She cried out as she squirted all over Dexter's pelvis.

" _Dexter_!" she cried his name.

Dexter pulled himself up without taking himself out of her so that he was on his knees, and Mina's legs, still locked around his waist, came up with him. He grabbed her arms and pinned them to the bed. He started deeply into her eyes as he continued to ram his erection in and out of her snatch vigorously.

The teasing implied in restricting her body movements irked and excited Mina to no end. She found she could grab on to nothing and with her legs in the air, she could scarcely match his thrusts with hip movements. He was in complete control of the situation. She felt heat rising in her chest as her loins gushed at the forcefulness of this teasing position.

Dexter, for his part, felt a pressure gathering in his crotch. He was determined to make Mina climax one last time before he hit his own peak. He could go on after, of course, but she was not as accustomed to the very active sex life of a Multiverser as he was. He shoved himself into her over and over again, until he felt her clamp around him once more. The dam holding back his own arrival broke and he came inside her with a yell.

* * *

 **LEMONS ARE DONE FOR THE CHAPTER!**

* * *

After that, the two had settled down for the night and slept in each other's arms.

When Mina awoke in the morning, she saw that Dexter was already awake. He was sat up, running a hand through her hair caringly.

"Good morning, darling," she said, leaning up and giving him a kiss. "You slept well, I take it?"

"I did," he said with a smile. "Yourself?"

"Better than I have in a while."

"That's good. Mina, I've been thinking about something." He considered his next words. "How would you like to learn to shoot with revolvers?"

Mina's strength and determination had impressed Dexter over their months working together. To his mind, she would make a bloody good Gunslinger.

* * *

 **And that's it, folks! Pretty chilled out compared to the first three chapters, I know, but I wanted to let everyone relax a bit before the juiciness of this arc takes over. And it was the perfect opportunity to introduce the first of my co-authors! Go ahead and introduce yourself.**

 _ **Crazy Cakes 23: Hey hey hey, hope you liked my shitty attempt at making porn :P. When I saw PJ was working on this, I wanted in, and Alexis Verser is now going to be a member of the League.**_

 **To be fair, we both made really shitty attempts at writing porn, you just did one and I did two.**

 **Fair warning: Alexis Verser is one of the darker characters in the Multiverser Saga, as you lot no doubt discovered upon reading some of what she said in this very chapter. Believe me, that was just the tip of a very large iceberg. Just a warning in case you're sensitive about certain topics.**

 **I tried to think of some music to throw in other than just the opening, but came up with fuck-all. If I think of any after upload, I'll probably just edit it in. If not, then meh, this is mostly a cooldown chapter, anyway.**

 **Now, if you review and want to ask my co-authors a question, you should mention their username or the name of their Multiverser in that question.**

 **Now, to answer the reviews I got last time.**

 **Hero of the Multiverse:** Indeed. Thank you. Well, you'd already know that, wouldn't you? ;)

 **ZenithBloodedge:** Thank you. I appreciate it.

 **Dis Lexic:** Nah, that's not Azazel. Though knowing this universe, he's probably in here somewhere.

 **Guest:** The way it generally works is that the Multiversers, like Dexter, can take the place of anyone they choose in the worlds they visit. The reason he can use Dragon Shouts is that he's the Dragonborn in a version of the _Elder Scrolls_ universe. No, there's not an evil version of Dexter out there. The closest we have to that is his Antiverser, who I haven't revealed enough about to tell you about. Basically, the Multiversers are omnipresent, they can be anywhere and everywhere at once. These aren't technically different versions of Dexter; he is one being who can occupy multiple spaces simultaneously, hence why he exists in multiple universes. It's the same for the other Multiversers. I hope all this answered your questions.

 **Mrotrax:** Glad you're enjoying it. Well, I wouldn't say "ahead of his time," more like _out_ of his time. The world he originated in was in the year 2017 before he died (see _The Multiverser: A Fascination Brought By Death_ on my profile page for more details on that), so he just has more modern standards. And yes, Griffin is a scumbag.

 **Guest:** Er, yeah, so the thing is that I may have jumped the gun in releasing this. If you look at the timeline I have set up on my profile, you'll see that this story takes place quite a bit ahead of where _Hyperdimension Multiverser_ currently is. So I can't go too into detail without spoiling plans I have for the future. I _can_ , however, tell you that Dexter, as a Multiverser, is not confined to the rules of the _Neptunia_ universe in the ways that world's inhabitants are. Blue Heart can gain power from Shares, but Dexter has power he's amassed in other ways that he's capable of sharing with her. That's all I can give you without spoiling anything, sorry.

 **And that's that! See you folks next time!**


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